


Everyday Life

by fortify_countrye



Series: The Silence Series [2]
Category: VIXX
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - College/University, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-07
Updated: 2016-08-07
Packaged: 2018-05-18 16:58:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 27
Words: 45,313
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5936017
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fortify_countrye/pseuds/fortify_countrye
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sequel to 'Silence Speaks Volumes' so read that first.<br/>Taekwoon and Wonshik may be happy together and ready to explore their relationship. Unfortunately their friends are still figuring out what to do about each other and how they all fit together.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Crazy Club Guy

**Author's Note:**

> Cross-posted from AFF.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, welcome to Part 2.  
> In Part 1 the date-doodah (now it’s official name) didn’t have that much purpose. However, in Part 2 there are flashbacks and a few times when it skips forward so paying attention to the date-doodah will help you not be ridiculously confused. As with Part 1, the date-doodah is in relation to Wonshik’s life (and Hongbin’s too, I guess)

Year 2: Semester 2: Week 8: Friday

“When’s Jaehwan coming back?” Sanghyuk wonders as Hongbin joins their table at the coffee shop.

“Who’s that?” Wonshik questions.

He’s heard them talking about him a number of times. Hakyeon, who can’t stop thinking that Sanghyuk’s new haircut is _fine_ , turns to look at Wonshik with a frown.

“Didn’t we tell you?” he asks.

“No.”

“Oh, he hangs out with us.”

“And?!” Wonshik prompts, slightly annoyed.

“He’s in a musical right now and has been away for about a month,” Hongbin chips in, taking pity on his friend. “He was supposed to be back last week but it was so popular they put on another showing.”

“Wow, what year is he?”

“He’s a third year, it’s his last.”

“You mean because he’s actually only doing the required three years instead of stretching it out?” Hongbin mutters.

“Hey,” Wonshik protests in defence of Taekwoon.

“What time does Taekwoon’s class end again?” Hongbin asks. “Four-thirty?”

“Four, it’s a weird time,” Wonshik tells him.

“Oh, how did your presentation go, Wonshikkie?”

“Fucking shit, definitely failed.”

“Wow, pessimism alert,” Hongbin states flatly.

“Guys,” Sanghyuk whines. “I was asking about Jaehwan…”

Hakyeon holds back a smile and finally answers the youngest. “His plane gets in tonight, I assume we’ll see him tomorrow.”

“We should have a welcome back party,” Sanghyuk suggests.

“Or, you could not look for reasons to get drunk,” Hakyeon tells him.

Sanghyuk folds his arms over his chest. “I’m eighteen…”

Hongbin laughs and wraps an arm around Sanghyuk. “Just a baby, Hyuk.”

Sanghyuk hates it that they all laugh. Especially when Hakyeon laughs. Hakyeon, who was five years older, definitely thought of him as a baby.

“How about we just hang out together with no alcohol?” Hakyeon proposes when the laughter dies down. “We can watch a movie or something.”

Hongbin raises an eyebrow at Hakyeon. “Why are you being so anti-alcohol all of a sudden?”

“You know Taekwoon doesn’t like to drink often, we were drinking last weekend. Also Hongbinnie, _we_ were drinking on Wednesday night.”

“Fine,” Hongbin grumbles, pretending he doesn’t hear Sanghyuk mutter ‘let your liver live’ under his breath.

Wonshik, who had only been accepted into the group two weeks ago, sighs. “When is Taekwoon coming?”

The question is answered straight away as Taekwoon walks towards them. Wonshik can’t help getting a little excited at just the sight of the other man.

The last two weeks had been a rollercoaster of trying to fit into each other’s lives. Eventually they had decided they would spend the weekends with each other and just see each other during the week whenever they happened to. Tonight, Taekwoon was sleeping over for the first time.

Wonshik knows there is very little chance they’ll do anything, especially since Hakyeon is also sleeping over and Hongbin will be there, but just the thought of sleeping next to Taekwoon has his heart pounding.

Taekwoon joins them at the table, adding another chair. Originally it had been a table for two, but now there were five of them. Luckily half of the table was a bench so two people could fit into one spot.

“How was class?” Sanghyuk asks.

Taekwoon gives a thumbs up and sinks down into his chair.

Wonshik trails his fingers down the older man’s arms before linking their hands together. Taekwoon shoots him a smile, something that still manages to surprise him, and squeezes his hand.

“Why isn’t Sanghyuk sleeping over?” Hongbin asks.

“Because it’s my six month anniversary with Mari, that’s why,” Sanghyuk supplies. “We’re going out for dinner.”

“And then he’ll be having his own sleepover,” Hakyeon says, successfully hiding how much it hurt to think about Sanghyuk having a girlfriend.

“Lucky boy,” Hongbin teases.

“Wonshik,” Hakyeon says, suddenly changing the subject. “Would you mind if we just invited Jaehwan over to your place? Since we’ll all be there anyway?”

“Nah, go ahead.”

“Cool, I’ll send him a text,” Hongbin says while whipping out his phone.

 

Sanghyuk leaves them at the coffee shop at five-thirty so he can get home and get ready for his date, ignoring the teasing. At six they start the walk to Wonshik’s place, stopping at the McDonald’s that is on the way there to grab some dinner because Wonshik hadn’t done the grocery shopping this week.

“Jaehwan’s flight landed,” Hongbin announces just as they finish eating. “His mum cried, apparently.”

“He’s staying at his parent’s house tonight?” Wonshik asks.

“Yep, it’s closer to the airport.”

Hakyeon is eyeing Hongbin suspiciously. “How often do you guys text each other?”

“Don’t know,” Hongbin says, finally putting away his phone. “He said he’ll be over about eleven tomorrow.”

Hakyeon keeps his other questions to himself. He hadn’t known Jaehwan and Hongbin had even been this close outside of them hanging out as a group. He knew they had met before _they_ knew they had mutual friends, but they’d never once spoken about hanging out together alone. And now suddenly they were text buddies? Or had they always been text-buddies and he’d just never noticed?

 Instead of voicing any of these questions, Hakyeon apologises to Wonshik again for staying over.

Taekwoon is staying over because this is the day they arranged from him to sleep over. Hakyeon is sleeping over because their heater broke and it is _cold_. Other than that Wonshik just thinks he’s there to spy on them.

It turns out he’s wrong because Hakyeon falls asleep on the couch when they’re watching a movie. Once the movie is finished, they make him comfy – he mutters some gibberish about goldfish – and then also go to bed, despite it only being ten-thirty on a Friday night.

 

Wonshik gets changed into what he normally sleeps in, tracksuit pants, and then throws on an old t-shirt too while Taekwoon is brushing his teeth. Although the apartment may be fairly spacious, the bathroom was a different story, so Wonshik waits his turn and then they swap.

Taekwoon is already in Wonshik’s bed when he gets back. He flicks the light off and crawls in next to him, planting a kiss on Taekwoon’s cheek.

“’Night.”

“Mmm,” Taekwoon murmurs, wrapping an arm around Wonshik.

 

Sanghyuk rocked up at the apartment around ten, carrying a shopping bag with bacon and eggs. Hongbin smiles graciously and begins cooking, accepting the scolding from the younger man for not going grocery shopping.

Hongbin and Sanghyuk lose at rock paper scissors and get cleaning duty once breakfast is done. While they do the dishes Taekwoon claims the couch, lying down and staring at the TV. Wonshik perches on the arm and talks to Hakyeon, who took the armchair. When someone knocks on the door it’s Sanghyuk who races for it and rips it open.

Jaehwan laughs at Sanghyuk and pulls him into the apartment. Suddenly the volume in the apartment shoots up. Jaehwan jumps around in a circle with Sanghyuk, fist bumps Hongbin and then turns to find Hakyeon and Taekwoon.

“Agh!” Jaehwan yells when spots Wonshik. “I remember you!”

Wonshik also remembers, as if he could forget.

 

It was Orientation Week, but so far all Wonshik had managed to do was get lost. How did people know where they needed to go? The maps were completely unhelpful and the rooms in buildings appeared to be numbered randomly. The only place Wonshik knew how to get to was the library, and that was because that’s the only part of the tour that didn’t involve never ending hallways that went through four different buildings.

“Join the Lumberjacks!” someone yells over all the other yelling. “We organise an event every week! Joining means that you pay less for entrance to clubs around town!”

A pamphlet is pushed into Wonshik’s hands and he shoves it into the small canvas bag that had also miraculously appeared on his person. There must be hundreds of clubs advertising in the courtyard, all trying to grab even the tiniest bit of attention.

The Lumberjacks looked to be a ‘party’ club and had a huge number of members milling about trying to recruit. There were various sport clubs, culture clubs from other countries, clubs for international students to connect, and study clubs for different subjects.

There were all these clubs, but Wonshik couldn’t find the fucking photography club where Hongbin had said he’d be.

“You there!”

Wonshik almost punches the vaguely human shape that comes barrelling towards him. Hands grab his shoulders and Wonshik finds himself face to face – _too_ face to face – with a man who has a huge grin and shining eyes.

“You like to sing right?!”

“Uhh…”

“Join the musical theatre club!” the excited man shakes Wonshik slightly.

“I’m not studying musical theatre,” Wonshik manages, getting his shoulders free.

“That doesn’t matter! Just join up and you can participate in our productions!”

“Um, I’m not intere–”

“No need to be shy! If you don’t want to perform you can work backstage!”

“I actually–”

“You can dedicate as much time as you choose to the musical theatre club!”

 _I don’t want to dedicate_ any _time to the musical theatre club!_ Wonshik cries in his head, looking for an escape.

It’s hot under the sun and packed in with all these people just makes it worse. Wonshik can feel his patience slipping away and fights to keep the clenched fist in his pocket and not buried in this guy’s face.

The club member seems to take Wonshik’s sudden unresponsiveness as a sign of progress. He starts to lead Wonshik over to the stall and preparing an application form.

“Jaehwannie!” a voice calls.

The member, whose name is apparently Jaehwan, turns around to see who called him and Wonshik runs for it.

 

The ‘crazy club guy event’, as he’d explained it to Hongbin, had been one of Wonshik’s more traumatic experiences when he’d been adjusting to university life. He’d avoided any orientation activities for the rest of the week and then during the following week when classes had started, he’d gotten lost four times and gone to the wrong room three times, sneaking out part-way through lectures after realising.

Hongbin on the other hand had had the smoothest transition possible after joining the photography club. People had showed him around and he’d formed a group of friends ridiculously fast.

“It’s crazy club guy,” Wonshik says.

“ _Jaehwan_ is crazy club guy?” Hongbin practically yells.

Wonshik nods and Jaehwan frowns.

“Crazy?”

“You practically attacked me.”

Jaehwan scoffs. “No I didn’t. Besides, if we’re talking about crazy, what happened to the pink hair?”

“ _Pink_?” Hakyeon asks, voice rising in surprise.

Taekwoon looks equally surprised, sitting up and staring at Wonshik.

“I dyed it brown,” Wonshik mutters.

Hongbin laughs. “I forgot about that!”

It was _supposed_ to be red, but it had turned out pink. He’d dyed it brown the day before his first class.

“Anyway,” Jaehwan smirks. “You’re Taekwoon’s boyfriend?”

Both Taekwoon and Wonshik turn bright red. They had never really gotten around to discussing exactly _what_ they were, it had only been two weeks since the coffee shop. Obviously they were more than friends, they had an exclusive interest in each other and a weird instantaneous attraction.

Hakyeon is the one who saves them from answering, jabbing Jaehwan in the ribs.

“Don’t ignore me, Jaehwannie!”


	2. It's Just Sex

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: semi-smut

Year 2: Semester 2: Week 8: Saturday

Wonshik is not impressed. Not. At. All.

He can hear absolutely everything going on in Hongbin’s room and he _really_ doesn’t want to be hearing everything going on in Hongbin’s room.

A particularly strained moan has Wonshik out of bed and getting dressed. He doesn’t need to put up with this. He has an almost-boyfriend now.

Wonshik pulls on his winter coat, grabs his shit and starts the fifteen minute walk to Taekwoon’s apartment.

 

“If you don’t quieten down you’re going to wake up Wonshik,” Jaehwan whispers, pausing.

“I don’t _care_ ,” Hongbin groans. “Just _move_.”

“You’re being kind of needy,” Jaehwan notes, liking it a lot more than he should.

“It’s been a _month_ , Jaehwan.”

“You didn’t… get with anyone while I was gone?”

Hongbin throws a look over his shoulder. “Does it feel like I’ve been with anyone else?”

“You didn’t even do it yourself?”

Hongbin buries his face back into the mattress and presses back into Jaehwan. “I wanted _you_ to do it.”

The confession gets Jaehwan worked up for reason’s he doesn’t understand and spurs him into action. He pushes forward into Hongbin, drawing out a wanton moan.

 

Hongbin wakes up wrapped in Jaehwan’s arms. That was something new. For the first eight months of their relationship, the other person had left after they were done. Then, earlier in the year, Jaehwan had fallen asleep at Hongbin’s and they’d discovered how convenient it was to just sleep there.

They had never cuddled in bed, however.

“You awake?” Jaehwan asks.

“Yep,” Hongbin replies, untangling himself from the other’s arms and sitting up. “I’m hungry, want to go grab breakfast? I know a great café near here.”

This was also new. Yes, they slept at each other’s house, but they left straight away in the morning.

“Sure. I’m starving.”

They hastily shower, separately of course, and get dressed in yesterday’s clothes. Then they set off down the stairs.

“Wonshik!” Jaehwan cries in surprise when they get to the street.

Wonshik waves and continues walking over. He doesn’t say anything but Hongbin knows that he’s in for a questioning later in the day.

“Did you sleep at Hakyeon’s last night?”

“Yep, on my way home now.”

“Do you want to come get breakfast?” Jaehwan offers.

“Nah, I ate with Taekwoon. Thanks for the offer though.”

He gives the pair of them a wave and enters the building.

“I like him,” Jaehwan states as they start walking again.

“Good, he’s been my friend for six years.”

“Oh, he’s the same one.”

“Huh?”

“When you texted me and told me you were moving in with your good friend it totally didn’t click that you meant your friend from high school.”

Hongbin laughs. “How many good friends do you think I have, exactly?”

Jaehwan also laughs. “I was rooting for your social life.”

They joke about their lack of social lives until they reach the café. Both order coffee and croissants, Jaehwan gets a cheese and bacon and Hongbin gets a chicken, cheese and spinach. And then they sit down to eat.

Hongbin chokes on his coffee when he opens his napkin to see a phone number. Jaehwan laughs but finds himself surprisingly annoyed by the small string of digits scrawled there.

“Does this still happen to you a lot?” he asks.

Hongbin nods and regains his ability to breathe. “Do you think if I wore a sash that said ‘I’m gay’ that girls would leave me alone?”

“Probably, the girls would leave you alone but then I’d have to worry about the guys.”

Hongbin raises his eyebrows at that. “ _You’d_ have to worry about the guys?”

Jaehwan clears his voice, embarrassed. Why had he said that?

“How has your photography been?” he asks.

Hongbin lets the subject fade but he’s so curious. Is Jaehwan being possessive? They had agreed when they’d started this that if either of them got possessive they’d stop. Hongbin didn’t really want to stop…

 

“I knew you’d be waiting,” Hongbin says when he gets home.

Wonshik turns from the TV to look at Hongbin. He narrows his eyes.

“Would you _not_ at three o’clock in the morning?”

“Ah, sorry Wonshik. We got a little carried away last night.”

“You didn’t tell me you were dating Jaehwan.”

Hongbin’s cheeks heat. “I’m not.”

“You’re not?” Wonshik repeats, disbelieving.

“It’s just sex,” Hongbin replies.

“You’re fuck buddies?” Wonshik asks, surprised.

“…Yes.”

“Who get breakfast in the morning?”

“…Yes.”

“Okay then,” Wonshik says, patting Hongbin on the shoulder and then getting to his feet. “Just don’t get hurt, alright?”

Hongbin wants to ask what he means but Wonshik has already disappeared into the bathroom and shut the door.

 

Jaewhan hates his apartment. It was only big enough for one person. It had a bathroom/toilet combo and one room that acted as the kitchen, lounge room and bedroom. On the plus side he only payed about one hundred and ten dollars a week. On the negative side, Hongbin absolutely hated everything about it.

Jaehwan frowns and falls onto his bed – a single pushed into the corner. When had he started caring whether Hongbin wanted to come over? Surely as long as there was a bed – sometimes the floor would do if they were desperate – then he should be happy? When did it start mattering that Hongbin feel comfortable here?

Jaehwan groans, pulling his thoughts away from Hongbin. They fall instead to school and he groans again. Tomorrow was Monday, his first day back at uni for a month. For the most part he’d kept up with the work, and the musical had given him extra credit for two of his classes, but just the thought of having to walk for half an hour to get to uni every day was annoying.

“Only a few weeks more,” Jaehwan tells himself.

 

 

Year 1: Semester 2: Week 2: Friday

“Do you want to make a bit of money?” someone asks.

Hongbin whips around and spots a cute guy who is slightly shorter than he is.

“Are you propositioning me?” Hongbin asks back.

The guys laughs. “No! I hear that you take pretty good photos and was wondering if you’d do some work for the musical theatre club… But well, I mean, if you’d _like_ to.”

He ends the sentence with a suggestive wink and Hongbin felt his cheeks grow hot. “Sure.”

“To which one?”

“Both.”

 

 

Year 1: Semester 2: Week 3: Tuesday

“Hongbinnie,” Hakyeon greets, sitting down with the younger man where he eats a sandwich. “Jaehwan told me that you’ve started taking photos for the musical theatre club.”

“You know Jaehwan?” Hongbin asks, surprised.

His thoughts flash to the previous weekend when he’d gone to Jaehwan’s not once, but twice. It turns out that they were pretty compatible. With a great struggle Hongbin stops his cheeks from going red.

“He was surprised that I knew you too,” Hakyeon laughs.

“What else did he say?” Hongbin asks cautiously.

“Nothing much, just that you take great pictures, which I already knew.”

“Thanks.”

“Taekwoon and I hang out with Jaehwan a lot, you should come along.”

“Can I?” Hongbin asks, eager to have more of a social life outside of meeting Taekwoon and Hakyeon for lunch once a week and occasionally seeing Wonshik.

“Sure. We pretty much just chill out and watch movies, normally on a Friday night. Sometimes we drink but not that often.”

“Sounds cool, I’m in.”


	3. First Sighting

Year 1: Semester 1: Week 1

Several people turn to look at the back of the room when the door opens. No doubt it was a first year who hadn’t been able to find the lecture room.

The guy who enters does the walk of shame – though he doesn’t _look_ very ashamed – to an empty seat two rows in front of Hakyeon and only a couple of seats down. He takes out a notebook which looks like it has too many used pages to be new – and therefore wasn’t for this class – and starts writing.

Hakyeon can’t help looking over at the man a few minutes later to see him put the notebook away. He then slouches down in his seat, knees touching the one in front of him, and stares to the front of the room.

The next time Hakyeon looks over the man is asleep. It was only week one and this guy was sleeping already.

 

Over the next three weeks Hakyeon watches this guy during the history lecture. Not intentionally, just because he was curious and he was always sitting behind the guy. Hakyeon had two major questions. What was up with the notebook? And why did he always fall asleep?

During week four the pattern continues and Hakyeon bites back a yawn he’d caught from the man. Taekwoon was finally coming back to work tonight, but it was basically a trial. If Taekwoon couldn’t handle it, or needed more time, then they were going to go talk to his parents and see if they could pay his part of the rent for a while.

Taekwoon hadn’t spoken to him for a week now, but he knew not to take it personally. The last time this had happened they’d been seventeen and it had lasted two weeks. Hakyeon had been hoping to talk about this guy with Taekwoon and see what he thought. If all goes well tonight maybe he’ll bring it up then.

 

 

Year 2: Semester 2: Week 8: Wednesday

“Wonshikkie,” Hakyeon whines, approaching the table where Wonshik sat in the library. Taekwoon had just left for a class but already someone new was sitting there.

“What,” Wonshik whines back, slightly annoyed that his study had been interrupted. The other person at his table also looked annoyed.

“Hongbin just told me that you’re not hanging out with us tonight.”

Wonshik turns to give the older man an unimpressed look. “I told you, I have a presentation tomorrow, I can’t drink tonight.”

The impromptu party was to celebrate Hakyeon and Sanghyuk getting the night off work.

“You don’t _have_ to drink. Woonie isn’t drinking because he drank on the weekend.”

“It’s not that I don’t want to drink, it’s that I literally don’t have time tonight. I did my presentation on the wrong thing and now I need to redo it.”

Hakyeon frowns. “What subject is it for?”

The look on Wonshik’s face is one of disgust. “Communications. I’ve been scraping by all semester and I need at least a passing grade for this or I’m going to fail.”

“Oh. Okay then,” Hakyeon says, he’s heard the ‘communications is the stupidest subject on earth’ rage a number of times in the last two weeks. “Good luck.”

Wonshik flashes him a smile in apology. “Thanks.”

“We’re having our little group gathering at the coffee shop Friday afternoon still, okay?”

“Sure, see you then.”

 

 

Year 1: Semester 2: Week 1

Taekwoon had never been attracted to someone before. He doesn’t know what it was about the boy with the bulging bag, but it sure was something. He wants to get to know him. He wants to be close to him. He wants to do… a whole lot of things with him. Taekwoon may know what he wants but he also knows he’ll never get it because that would mean speaking to the boy.

 

Taekwoon wakes up hard and straining. He’s not sure what he’d been dreaming about but he can take a pretty good guess and say it was the boy from the library. He came to the library several times a week while Taekwoon was there and usually worked on his laptop, but next to him sat a notebook he would randomly start writing in.

Taekwoon doesn’t know what he’s doing when he slips his hand beneath his pyjamas, he’d never done this while thinking about someone before. His mind wanders as he strokes himself slowly and he’s soon convinced himself that the boy is here with him, touching him.

His release comes too quickly and once the rush is gone he feels himself heat from shame instead of arousal as he had before. It was normal to think about other people while doing this, right? That was the impression he’d gotten years ago when talking about it with Hakyeon. Then why did he feel like he’d taken advantage of the boy with the bulging bag?

 

“Who do you think about when you jack off?” Hakyeon asks.

They were approaching fourteen and Hakyeon usually found some way to bring the conversation around the sex at some point during a sleepover. It didn’t really bother Taekwoon that Hakyeon wanted to talk about it, it just wasn’t something he’d really spent a lot of time thinking about.

“I don’t think about anybody,” Taekwoon answers with red cheeks.

Hakyeon sits up on his elbow and looks down at where Taekwoon is lying on the floor. “Really?”

Taekwoon looks up at the other boy. “Yeah.”

“Huh.”

Hakyeon lies back down, returning to his portable game. Taekwoon frowns and eventually sits up, moving to kneel beside Hakyeon’s bed.

“Is that weird?” he asks.

Hakyeon sighs. “I don’t know. Maybe.”

If Hakyeon could go back in time and slap himself at this moment, he would. Taekwoon obsesses over this until they’re fifteen, when Hakyeon tells Taekwoon that he’s gay and Taekwoon asks how he knows.

 

Taekwoon is lying on his bed staring at the ceiling when Hakyeon finds him. Since this morning he hadn’t been able to think about anything but the boy with the bag. Guilt more than anything kept his thoughts from going down _that_ path again.

“What are you doing?”

Either Taekwoon doesn’t hear him or he doesn’t want to answer. Instead he looks over at his friend, confusion all over his face.

“There’s this guy at the library.”

Hakyeon raises an eyebrow. “Did he say something to you?”

Taekwoon shakes his head. “He’s just interesting.”

It takes several more conversations about ‘the guy from the library’ before Hakyeon figures out exactly what Taekwoon means by ‘interesting’.

 

 

Year 1: Semester 2: Week 2

Taekwoon was good at sketching, but he didn’t really enjoy it when it was work. Right now he was only sketching because he couldn’t think of anything to do for his project and was waiting for some inspiration. With a groan Taekwoon scribbles out what he’d drawn and collapses sideways onto the couch.

“Still haven’t thought of anything?” Hakyeon asks from the kitchen table where he’d been studying.

“No…”

Hakyeon comes over and picks up the assignment sheet Taekwoon had tossed across the room two hours ago.

He reads through it. “Design a logo or mascot for a brand or product and write two thousand words about how it would appeal to the public. Use real examples to support your ideas.”

 _Sounds stupid_ , Hakyeon thinks. He’d never understood art classes.

“What have you drawn so far?”

He doesn’t wait for Taekwoon to answer, but instead gathers up all of the scattered papers. A lot of them were animals and were pretty cute. Others were a little ridiculous and were obviously drawn out of frustration. Eventually Taekwoon had simply started drawing real things.

The pot plant in the corner of the room. Their microwave’s extreme sci-fi appearance. The fruit bowl – which Hakyeon really needed to clean out – and the pattern their rug had. When Hakyeon got to the page with the giant scribble he pauses in surprise.

“This is sleepy guy from last semester,” Hakyeon states.

Taekwoon raises his head. “Really?”

“Yeah,” Hakyeon frowns. “Is this library guy?”

Taekwoon nods.

“Huh. Weird.”

Hakyeon stares at the sketch for almost another minute before asking. “Does he have a notebook?”

“Yeah.”

“Huh,” Hakyeon says again. “You only see him in the library?”

Taekwoon groans. “Yes, I’ve never seen him anywhere else. I can’t even figure out what he’s studying.”

“I’m sure he’ll come to the coffee shop one day.”

Taekwoon falls back onto the couch, pushing the word coffee around in his head. “Maybe I’ll do an anthropomorphic coffee bean.”

“You should keep brainstorming.”


	4. Yes You Will

Year 2: Semester 1: Week 1: Wednesday

“You look tired,” Hakyeon notes when he gets to work.

Sanghyuk, the newest employee, looks up from where he’s staring at the floor.

“I stayed up late playing games,” he explains.

Hakyeon laughs, joining him behind the counter and putting on an apron. “It’s your own fault then.”

Hakyeon likes Sanghyuk. He’s a good worker and fast learner, but what Hakyeon likes most about him is that he didn’t completely avoid Taekwoon when they worked together. He’d chat away while on the register, not batting an eye when Taekwoon didn’t answer.

“Want to go see a movie tonight, Hyukkie?” Hakyeon asks.

It had only been two months since Sanghyuk had started working here in January, but already he and Hakyeon had little traditions. If they worked the end shift together, they’d make the other a coffee before cleaning the machine. If it was Sunday, which meant an eight-thirty close, they’d go see a movie after clocking off. Sanghyuk had already joined their little group and hung out with them on Friday afternoons.

Jaehwan and Hongbin liked to tease him a little about being the baby in the group, but Hakyeon usually shut them down after a while. He thought that Sanghyuk was pretty mature considering he was seventeen.

 

Year 2: Semester 1: Week 3: Firday

“Are you staying over tonight?” Hakyeon asks at their Friday gathering at his place.

“Sorry, I’ve got a date.”

“You never hang out with us anymore, Hyukkie,” Hakyeon whines, clinging to the teen and trying not to feel jealous.

Sanghyuk swings from side to side in Hakyeon’s arms, good humouredly accepting the teasing that Hongbin is dishing out. Sanghyuk leans slightly too far over and they overbalance and tumble to the floor. There’s this very clear, distinct moment when Hakyeon realises that if Hongbin hadn’t been in the room, he would have kissed Sanghyuk. Pushing himself to his feet Hakyeon joins Hongbin in his laughter.

Sanghyuk, who stares after Hakyeon for several seconds with a confused look, also gets to his feet, complaining that he’d hit his elbow.

 

Year 2: Semester 1: Week 6: Sunday

“I’m Mari,” the girl introduces herself. “I’m Hyuk’s girlfriend.”

Hakyeon forces a smile onto his face.

She and a bunch of other teenagers had barged their way into the coffee shop and taken up several tables. Luckily it was Sunday, which meant that not many people were being disturbed. Sanghyuk looks embarrassed that she and his friends from school are here.

“Hakyeon,” Hakyeon replies.

“I can’t believe you choose to work Sundays, Hyuk,” some guy shouts.

Sanghyuk ignores him and so does Mari.

“Hyuk talks about you a lot, actually. I thought you were older.”

Hakyeon isn’t sure if it’s a compliment or an insult. Instead he just asks if she’s ordering something.

Mari orders fifteen coffees, splits the bill between four people, and then decides she’ll get cookies as well. Sanghyuk, who has never needed to split an order before, looks to Hakyeon with horror in his eyes.

Hakyeon drapes himself over the younger man’s shoulder and guides him through it. He then tells Sanghyuk that he can go take his break and hang out with his friends.

Sanghyuk shakes his head. “I’ll stay here.”

Hakyeon tries not to feel like he’s just beaten Mari at something, but he does and he hates himself for it. When exactly did he start feeling like this?

Sanghyuk’s friends stay for more than an hour. When they ask him to hang out with them he apologises and says he’s already had his break, which is a total lie.

“What was that about?” Hakyeon asks once they leave.

They left all of their cups and rubbish on the table and Sanghyuk looks both annoyed and embarrassed.

“Have you ever wondered why you’re friends with people? Like, you have nothing in common with them, they only think about themselves, they do stupid shit and then laugh about it? Stuff like that?”

Hakyeon feels a little sorry for him, there isn’t anything much worse than outgrowing your friends. Instead of saying so Hakyeon pats the younger man on the back.

“Mari seems mature.”

For the most part she’d kept the group in check, telling them to quieten down when they got too loud, and eventually suggesting that they leave too. It made it hard for Hakyeon to hate her.

“She’s a good friend, pretty awesome girlfriend too.”

And now Hakyeon thinks it’s a lot easier to hate her.

 

 

Year 2: Semester 2: Week 1: Friday

“Happy Birthday,” Taekwoon says when Sanghyuk walks into the apartment with Hakyeon.

“Thanks.”

“Are you having a party?” Jaehwan asks.

Sanghyuk scoffs. “Why bother? Only three of my friends are eighteen anyway.”

He sits down on the couch and stares blankly at the TV. Hongbin leans over to Hakyeon.

“Does he seem a little down to you?”

“I think he had a fight with his girlfriend,” Hakyeon whispers back.

He’d seen Sanghyuk ignore two phone calls from Mari on the walk here from work.

“Why don’t we have a party here?” Jaehwan suggests.

“Can we?” Sanghyuk asks, looking at Hakyeon with his sad eyes.

“I don’t see why not, it’s Friday night. You always stay over Friday nights anyway.”

Sanghyuk’s face lights up and Hakyeon hopes he doesn’t regret this.

“Let’s do presents first,” Hakyeon says.

“You guys got me presents?”

The confusion that sweeps the room only lasts a few seconds before they remember that Sanghyuk’s friends were pretty much jobless and very much teenagers.

“Of course we got you presents, you idiot,” Hakyeon tells him after fetching his. “You didn’t get _me_ a present, though.”

“You didn’t tell me it was your birthday until it _was_ your birthday,” Sanghyuk complains. “I’ll get you a late present if you really want.”

Hakyeon laughs and pats Sanghyuk on the head. “I’m just teasing. Spend your money on yourself.”

 

“You bought me vodka,” Sanghyuk says ten minutes later when they finally get around to the presents.

So far, all day, Sanghyuk had just gotten money from his family and a game he’d already finished.

“Yes, I did,” Hakyeon grins. “There’s a tradition in my family where everybody watches you take your first shot of vodka.”

“Oh, god,” Jaehwan mutters.

“ _I_ won’t make you do that however, because it’s awful and vodka was made by the devil.”

“ _Can_ I, though?”

“It’s your bottle of vodka, do what you want with it.”

 

Three hours later and Sanghyuk, Jaehwan and Hongbin are very drunk. Taekwoon, who wasn’t drunk at all, does a quick clean-up of bottles as they begin to pass out. Hakyeon gets Hongbin, who has already thrown up twice, comfortable on the couch and Jaehwan comfortable on the foam mattress they kept exactly for this reason. Taekwoon places an empty paper bin and two drink bottles between them, not looking forward to how the morning is going to look.

“Come on, Hyukkie, you can sleep with me,” Hakyeon says.

Hakyeon forces Sanghyuk to drink a lot of water before getting into bed. He tries to put some space between them but Sanghyuk keeps creeping back.

“You better tell me if you feel sick,” Hakyeon warns.

Sanghyuk doesn’t reply to the question. Instead he giggles a little and kisses Hakyeon’s cheek. “Happy Birthday for last week.”

And then he passes out while Hakyeon glows red.

“You’re pushing your luck,” Hakyeon grumbles, settling down to sleep.

 

“I’m never drinking again,” Sanghyuk groans into the toilet the next morning.

Hakyeon pats his back, unsympathetic. “Yeah you will.”


	5. Not a Date

Year 2: Semester 2: Week 9: Wednesday

Hongbin isn’t sure what he’s doing when he picks up his phone and calls Jaehwan.

“What’s up?” Jaehwan answers.

“Do you want to go see that new zombie movie?”

“Sure. Tonight?”

“Is seven good? The next showing isn’t until nine-thirty.”

“Seven works. Where are we meeting with the others?”

“None of the others want to see it.”

It’s a lie. Sanghyuk had expressed special interest in this movie when the trailer had first come out but Hongbin was hoping Jaehwan didn’t remember.

“Sucks for them,” Jaehwan says as naturally as he can. “It’s just us then. Want me to swing around your place and then we can go?”

“That’ll be good. See you soon.”

“Bye.”

Hongbin falls back onto his bed, heart racing. He can’t believe he just tricked Jaehwan into one on one time. Hongbin isn’t sure why, but he and Jaehwan rarely hung out, and when they did it usually ended in sex. Tonight he was determined to not have sex with Jaehwan. A little before Jaehwan had left for his musical, Hongbin had realised that he wanted _more_ than just casual sex. He wanted the whole thing.

Jaehwan hangs up and lets the grin break out onto his face. He’s so happy that the others don’t want to see the movie. He doesn’t know why it is, but lately he’s been thinking about Hongbin a lot. When he’d been away for the musical it was like every third thought was about Hongbin and since he’d gotten back he hadn’t been able to get enough time alone with the other man.

 _But he only wants sex_ , they think. _I’ll keep it to myself_.

 

“Where are you going?” Wonshik asks.

“Jaehwan and I are going to see the zombie movie,” Hongbin supplies, running his hands over his shirt. It wasn’t a shirt Hongbin would just wear to class, but it was still casual.

Wonshik raises an eyebrow. “Have fun on your date.”

“It’s not a date,” Hongbin denies.

“Uh huh.”

“Why aren’t you at your music class?” Hongbin asks, trying to get the conversation away from him.

“It was cancelled because the teacher is sick. They’re going to hold a make-up class on Sunday,” Wonshik supplies. “By the way, I thought Sanghyuk wanted to see the zombie movie.”

Hongbin can’t meet Wonshik’s eyes. “He doesn’t.”

A knock on the front door prevents any further comments on the matter and Hongbin goes to answer it. Jaehwan too is slightly dressed up. Not enough for it to look like he thought it was a date, but just enough for Hongbin to think he looks pretty good.

“Hi,” Hongbin greets.

“Hey,” Jaehwan returns.

They try to check each other out subtly and while they may not notice each other doing it, Wonshik watches on with a hidden grin.

“Do you think if we hurry we can squeeze in a meal?” Jaehwan questions.

“Maybe, if you want something cheap and nasty. We could just go get something after the movie is finished.”

 _Not a date?!_ Wonshik screams at them mentally.

“Sounds like a plan.”

“Cool, let’s go then.”

Wonshik watches in fascination as Hongbin grabs his wallet and phone and leaves without even a glance in his direction. Watching his best friend, who had had one real boyfriend before, trying to make a date seem like it wasn’t a date made Wonshik cringe. Surely they could be more direct about this?

 

“Thanks for buying my breakfast the other day,” Hongbin says once they’re on the street. “I didn’t even realise you paid for it until I got home.”

Jaehwan laughs. “It’s fine, it’s easier to pay for it all together.”

“I’ll buy you some popcorn,” Hongbin offers.

Jaehwan bumps Hongbin with his elbow. “Thanks.”

The cinema is fairly abandoned due to it being a Wednesday night. They buy tickets and Hongbin grabs them a popcorn to share since they were going out for dinner.

“Think it’s going to be scary?” Hongbin asks.

“Probably not.”

 

Jaehwan thinks that if his heart was beating any faster it would break through his ribs. Hongbin’s arm was pressed up against his on the arm rest – a compromise since they’d kept tying at rock paper scissors when deciding who got it – and he was pretty sure their feet were touching too.

Jaehwan goes into the movie determined not to scream. The first scare is a jump scare.

 

Hongbin is losing the feeling in his hand. He supposes that’s better than the constant pain it’s been in for the last fifteen minutes.

“Is that little kid going to die?” Jaehwan questions in horror.

 _Probably_ , Hongbin thinks. Honestly he’d had trouble concentrating on the movie. Jaehwan was sitting too close. The only thing that kept him from clinging to Hongbin was the arm of the chair. Hongbin’s heart was hammering in his chest and it wasn’t from fear.

“Is there any popcorn left?”

“You shouldn’t stress eat,” Hongbin tells him, handing over the popcorn anyway.

Jaehwan finally let’s go of his hand. “I’m not.”

He does, but only when the really scary bits come one.

 

“Why did you want to see this movie?” Jaehwan asks when it’s finally over and they’re heading to get food.

Hongbin laughs. “I didn’t know you were such a chicken. If I had I would have chosen something a little more your level, like a romantic comedy or something.”

“Oi,” Jaehwan mutters, shouldering Hongbin with a laugh. “Mean.”

They go another block just talking about the movie until they remember they need to eat.

“What do you want to eat?” Jaehwan asks.

“I know I said it was cheap and nasty before, but I could really go for some McDonald’s.”

“You can’t have McDonald’s twice in one week.”

Hongbin pouts, how did Jaehwan know that? Who had he been talking to? He bets it’s Taekwoon since Taekwoon always complained about take-away food.

“Fine,” he mutters. “What about sushi?”

 

It was a yes for sushi. Wonshik had shown Hongbin a good place to get sushi not far from their apartment. Most sushi places around here were take-away, but this was an actual restaurant. They gorge themselves, probably eating more than they should.

“I don’t feel like this was any better than McDonald’s,” Hongbin says as they walk back towards his apartment.

“Slightly more nutrients, slightly less sodium.”

When Jaehwan walks Hongbin up to the door he knows where this is heading. Before he can say anything Jaehwan has pulled him into a kiss.

It surprises Hongbin. Their kisses _always_ meant sex. _This_ kiss was softer, slower and had no intention of going further. One of Jaehwan’s hands is on his chin, the other is gently feathering it’s way through the hair over his ear.

Hongbin had to admit that he had no real experience with dating. He and his first boyfriend had been set up by friends in year twelve and their relationship had jumped instantly to simply going to one of their houses after school for sex. And then there was his relationship with Jaehwan until now, which was _only_ sex.

“Goodnight,” Jaehwan says when he pulls away.

Before Hongbin can say anything Jaehwan has already started back down the stairs. Heart once again pounding, Hongbin touches his lips and then shakes his head. Sure, he had wanted to go the night without sex, but he’d thought he’d have to at least _tell_ Jaehwan no. How had this happened?

Hongbin unlocks the front door and enters the apartment. Wonshik, who is lounging on the couch with his laptop looks over at his best friend.

“What’s with the grin?”

“I’m not grinning,” Hongbin snaps, covering his face.

Wonshik bites his lip to hide a smile and looks back at the laptop. “Uh huh.”

 

**BONUS:**

“I can’t believe you went to see that without me,” Sanghyuk whines for the eighth time at their Friday gathering.

“Sorry, I forgot you wanted to see it,” Hongbin lies.

“Sorry, Sanghyuk,” Jaehwan apologises.

Neither of them really feel any actual regret. They’d texted their usual amount since Wednesday but other than that hadn’t spoken to each other. It was like they were pretending that kiss hadn’t happened.

“Hakyeon,” Sanghyuk whines. “I wanted to see it.”

“We can go Sunday night if you want.”

“Really?” the teen asks, eye alight.

Hakyeon forces himself not to smile in response. “Sure.”

 

“Aargh!”

The scream scares the crap out of Sanghyuk. It didn’t come from the movie, a more thriller than a zombie movie really. No, it came from Hakyeon to his right.

“Would you relax?” he asks.

Hakyeon looks up at him with wide eyes. “How are you not scared?”

“Because it’s not real?”

Hakyeon had been clinging to his hand for most of the movie, but he didn’t draw attention to it. Sanghyuk didn’t want to embarrass the older man… he wouldn’t admit it but he didn’t really want to let go either, which was weird. His friends would have a few choice, descriptive words if they saw Sanghyuk holding hands with a guy.

“Do you want me to walk you home?” Sanghyuk asks when the movie is over.

“No!” Hakyeon cries, trying to regain some of his dignity.

Sanghyuk laughs, seeing through the act. “Okay then, I’ll see you at work on Wednesday.”

The teen starts to walk away but he barely gets ten steps when Hakyeon appears at his side. “Walk me halfway.”

Sanghyuk isn’t sure why he’s blushing but he’s glad it’s dark. “Okay.”


	6. Back to Life

Year 1: Semester 1: Week 3: Tuesday+Wednesday

It was week three of the first semester of Taekwoon’s third year. He didn’t have any work due until week five and so had chosen to spend the last week where he could get away with doing nothing lounging around on the couch. Actually, except for the two important classes Taekwoon can’t miss during the week, he hadn’t left their apartment for anything in more than a month.

The sound of Hakyeon getting home tears Taekwoon’s eyes away from his laptop’s screen and he thinks about retreating to his bedroom before the nagging starts. Taekwoon doesn’t decide in time and an annoyed ‘tsk’ from Hakyeon marks the beginning of what’s to come.

“You could have done the shopping while I was at school,” Hakyeon says once he’s opened the fridge. “Is that why you didn’t cook dinner?”

The elder abandons the search for food and enters the lounge room. “Why didn’t you vacuum if you’re going to just sit around all day?”

Hakyeon shoos Taekwoon’s feet off of the couch. Taekwoon shifts so that he’s curled up against the arm of the couch with his laptop on his knees.

“Did you go to class today?” Hakyeon asks in the same nagging tone, he knows the answer. “You’re going to fail if you keep this up.”

 

Hakyeon looks exhausted and Taekwoon knows that he’s to blame for it. To cover their rent Hakyeon had been working every day as well as going to – and acing – all of his classes. Initially Hakyeon had told Taekwoon to take the time he needed to recover from his anxiety getting worse again. Normally it was around two to four weeks. It had been six weeks now.

“When are you coming back to work? I don’t like working with Hana and she’s getting grumpy at me.”

Hakyeon’s nagging moves down to more of a whine. This was usually a sign that Hakyeon was about to try make Taekwoon talk about what had happened.

 

 

The ridiculous cheering had stopped ages ago, but Taekwoon was still curled up in a corner upstairs in the dark. No matter how hard he tried, using all the techniques he knew, Taekwoon couldn’t get his legs to stop jiggling. He couldn’t get his hands to stop sweating. And he couldn’t get his heart to calm down and stop fluttering in his chest. He wishes he had his music as it was usually the one thing that helped him fully escape the situation and calm down.

“Woon,” a voice says softly.

It’s still enough to surprise Taekwoon and his eyes snap up, wide with fear and stress, to meet Hakyeon’s. Hakyeon is standing more than three meters away, he knows that now is not the time to get close, and it’s definitely not the time to touch. They’d gone through this before, and Hakyeon was sure they’d go through it again.

“Let’s go home,” Hakyeon says. “Everyone is out back so we can leave.”

 

Taekwoon is relieved that Hakyeon doesn’t touch him at all. Hakyeon was quick to learn what Taekwoon was okay with when he got like this when they were kids, back when they were a lot more frequent.

The hand that would normally sit on his lower back as a guide doesn’t touch him. The fingers that would have wiped his tears – if they were normal tears – are also absent. As they exit the coffee shop the warm air and the sound of hundreds of crickets is strangely calming.

When they get home the first thing Taekwoon does is shower. For now it’s over. Or more accurately, it’s sitting just below the surface waiting for a trigger. But for now at least his heart is beating normally.

“Take your time coming back to work,” Hakyeon tells him as he walks to his room.

He nods and shuts the door, collapsing into bed in exhaustion.

 

 

Year 1: Semester 1: Week 4: Tuesday+Wednesday

“You only have to come for an hour, and then you can go home if you want,” Hakyeon says once again.

He’d said it about five times already since morning. Today Taekwoon was going back to work. He and Hakyeon had skipped their afternoon classes, despite it being week four and the more important topics are being taught, to go to work. Hakyeon had hoped that during a Tuesday afternoon, which was a weirdly busy day, Taekwoon would be too busy to be bothered by their co-workers.

Taekwoon didn’t know he’d missed making coffee until he was making coffee again. The expensive machine in front of him thrummed away as he worked. Next to him Hakyeon took orders, never leaving his side. If he needed anything he asked another staff member to bring it here, and when they did they avoided Taekwoon altogether.

One hour turns into two, and then two into three, and before he knows it Taekwoon had worked the whole shift. There had been a couple of moments when the anxiety had started creeping up, but luckily the huge number of orders had prevented him from giving anything but coffee much thought.

Hana, who had been milling around in case he went home, had since settled into a chair and pulled out her laptop. She’d been filling in as barrister for six and a half weeks now and apparently her grades and social life had suffered. She apparently blamed Hakyeon for this, somehow.

Throughout the night staff members clock off and leave as the number of customers drop and at nine o’clock Hakyeon tells Hana that she can leave too.

Cleaning the shop is also something Taekwoon didn’t know he missed. The actions are repetitive and comfortable and weirdly calming. He knows that he’s definitely going to work again since he got through the day with no incidents, it feels better than sitting at home.

On the walk home, while Hakyeon chats away as usual, Taekwoon realises he hasn’t spoken a word to Hakyeon in an entire week, since before he’d been nagged at to go back to work. Hakyeon hadn’t mentioned it, knowing better than to bring it up, and hadn’t seemed too bothered by it. But Taekwoon felt guilt begin to course through him.

“There was this guy in my history lecture this morning that totally fell asleep. Actually he’s slept through every lecture for the subject since week one.”

“He’s going to fail.”

Hakyeon knows just about everything there is to know about Taekwoon, so he knows that making a fuss or reacting hugely when Taekwoon speaks is what sets him off the most, that’s what had set him off this time. He knows that it is unintentional, something leftover from trauma in the past, and he knows how weak Taekwoon feels for being affected the way he is.

Hakyeon knows all of this, so when Taekwoon speaks to him after a week of silence Hakyeon simply smiles.

“Maybe he’s trying sleep-learning.”

“He’s going to fail,” Taekwoon repeats.

 

 _I need help_. Taekwoon texts Hakyeon the next day.

He sends the room number of his class and waits. Five minutes later a slightly out of breath Hakyeon appears in his tutorial room. The tutor, who had met Hakyeon before the semester started, waves him in.

“Woon,” Hakyeon puffs, approaching his friend. “What’s wrong?”

Taekwoon motions to the man sitting across from him. Hakyeon is a little surprised by how attractive the other man was. The man looks a little confused about what’s going on.

“Group work?”

Taekwoon nods.

Hakyeon clears his voice and sits down, pulling the assignment sheet towards himself. He reads over it several times, feeling relieved that his own assessments were less complicated. For this, the two of them needed to incorporate what they were specialising in into the assignment, for Taekwoon that was graphic design.

Hakyeon realises that he’s going to have to be present for a lot of this. He reads the task one more time before looking over at Taekwoon’s partner.

“What are you specialising in?”

“Photography,” the man answers.

Hakyeon thinks this guy should be in front of the camera, not behind it. He decides not to say that out loud. The man is sitting back in his chair and has his arms crossed. Hakyeon figures that it was probably Taekwoon’s silence that had made him closed off.

“Awesome. Oh, I’m Hakyeon, by the way,” Hakyeon offers his hand.

“Hongbin,” the other man says while shaking his hand.

“Are you busy this afternoon? You can come over and work on the assignment then.”

“No, that’ll be fine.”

Hakyeon is glad that Hongbin opens up a little as they chat. He even talks to Taekwoon a little who just stares back until Hakyeon answers for him.

Taekwoon watches as Hakyeon once again becomes fast friends with someone. How does he do that?


	7. Drawn to You

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's Chasang time~ This chapter is in two parts, chapters 7+8.

Year 2: Semester 2: Week 10: Tuesday

“Taekwoon!” Hakyeon calls through the apartment. “You better be up!”

Taekwoon, however, is not up. He’s still in bed, propped up a little and staring at the ceiling with the covers pulled up to his chin.

“We have work in less than an hour, Woon, why are you still in bed?”

Hakyeon receives no verbal answer but Taekwoon does turn his head to stare blankly at his friend.

“Are you sick?”

No response.

Hakyeon sighs. “Fine, but you’re not staying in bed all day.”

No response.

“You have to clean the apartment and do some homework, okay?”

No response.

“ _Okay_?” Hakyeon asks with more force.

Taekwoon raises his head a tiny bit in his version of a nod and Hakyeon gives him a smile.

“Good. I’ll call Hyukkie in to work.”

No response.

“Do you want me to stay home?”

Taekwoon shakes his head slightly. He hates the frown that has appeared on Hakyeon’s face. Hakyeon, on the other hand, hates the blankness on Taekwoon’s. Sure, this happened a whole lot less than it used to – getting Taekwoon to go to school when they were seventeen had been a challenge all on its own – but Hakyeon was still as worried as he’d always be.

“Do you want me to call Wonshikkie?”

Another head shake.

“Alright, but if you want me to come home call me. Okay? Even if you think you’re being a nuisance. Okay? Promise me.”

Hakyeon holds his pinkie up the same way he has since he was seven years old, since he’d gone to Taekwoon’s house after a week of absences and made him promise to come the following day. And Taekwoon in response holds his up, the same way he had since Hakyeon had stormed past his protective adoptive parents and slapped some sense into him. Figuratively of course.

“Awesome. I’ll see you tonight, okay? I’ll be home by quarter to eleven.”

A tiny nod.

“Bye.”

Hakyeon closes Taekwoon’s door and finishes getting ready. He’s leaving Taekwoon a note telling him to cook bolognaise for dinner when he remembers to call Sanghyuk.

 “Hyukkie,” Hakyeon says when he picks up. “Are you at school?”

“Nope, why?”

“Can you work today?”

“Taekwoon’s shift?”

“Yeah.”

“Sure.”

“Thanks so much Hyukkie, you’re a life saver.”

Hakyeon puts his shoes on and then turns to shout, “Woon, I’m going to work now!”

 

“Stop. Skipping. School.”

Each word is accompanied by a sharp poke in the ribs. Sanghyuk laughs and pulls away from Hakyeon’s embrace, both because it hurt and because he liked it way too much.

“It’s not like I’m missing anything,” Sanghyuk shrugs.

Hakyeon wants to say that he doesn’t remember year twelve being such a breeze but he knows that Sanghyuk will just use it as ammo for old person jokes.

To be honest Sanghyuk had skipped school because he didn’t want to see his girlfriend since they’d had another giant fight last night. His friends at school would call it ‘being a pussy’, he would call it ‘strategic avoidance to prevent future conflict’.

Either way, he didn’t want to be anywhere near her, if working a long shift meant he didn’t have to see her then he’d take it. If he could make money while avoiding her then that was just a bonus.

“Is Taekwoon sick?” Sanghyuk asks as they grab their aprons.

“No, just a bad day.”

“Oh… I hope he feels better soon.”

“You’re sweet, Hyukkie,” Hakyeon tells him.

This was only the second time this year that Taekwoon had gotten like this, a record low. Sanghyuk had only been new to their group and hadn’t yet known about Taekwoon’s past or why he was refusing to get out of bed. Despite this he’d chatted with Taekwoon to get his mind off things and made brownies, the only thing he makes better than Taekwoon does.

Hakyeon had thought that was probably one of the nicest things anyone had ever done for Taekwoon.

 

“What’s wrong, Hyukkie?” Hakyeon asks as they’re cleaning.

It was just the two of them left in the shop now that everyone had gone home. Despite it being Tuesday, the busiest day, Sanghyuk had done a good job with keeping up with the orders. He’d been weirdly quiet since the start of the shift but Hakyeon had let it go until now. Was he just worried about Taekwoon?

Sanghyuk turns to meet Hakyeon’s eye. It’s the look on his face that reminds Hakyeon how young Sanghyuk is, despite his towering height and maturity when compared to other teens.

“Can I talk to you about something?”

“Of course,” Hakyeon smiles encouragingly.

As the older man approaches the counter he can see that Sanghyuk is gripping it. Coming to stand next to him, Hakyeon pokes his hand.

“You’ll hurt your fingers, Hyukkie,” Hakyeon says softly. “What did you want to talk about?”

Sanghyuk releases his grip and clears his voice. “My girlfriend and I had a fight.”

“Oh?” Hakyeon asks.

Sanghyuk had admitted to Hakyeon previously that sometimes he and Mari had fairly big fights. He had never told Hakyeon what they were about before but he assumed it was something new considering that Sanghyuk wanted to talk about it now.

“What is it this time?”

Sanghyuk shakes his head. “It’s always about the same thing.”

He lapses back into a nervous silence and Hakyeon waits, leaning against the counter. Sanghyuk is looking anywhere but at Hakyeon.

 _Should I tell him to relax?_ Hakyeon wonders to himself.

“Hyukkie–”

“We haven’t had sex yet!” Sanghyuk exclaims suddenly.

The year twelve buries his face in his hands, hiding how red he’d gotten. Hakyeon feels his own cheeks heat a little. He isn’t one hundred percent sure what his response is supposed to be so he reaches out and pats the younger man’s shoulder.

“That’s okay, Hyukkie, nothing wrong with that.”

“But it’s me…” he mutters.

Hakyeon frowns, not hearing. “What was that?”

Sanghyuk stands up properly and meets Hakyeon’s stare. Hakyeon knew that he’d been embarrassed, he hadn’t expected tears in his eyes though.

“It’s me that doesn’t want to have sex,” the youngster admits, face still red. “She wants to but I just _can’t_.”

Hakyeon’s cheek burn a little brighter. “You mean you can’t… get it up?”

 _Delicate, Hakyeon, real delicate._ Hakyeon chews himself out.

Sanghyuk doesn’t seem too fazed by the question though.

“Not for her,” he says while shaking his head. “Even if we make out for a long time, I just can’t.”

“Oh,” Hakyeon mutters.

 _Why?_ Hakyeon asks to himself. There had to be a reason, right?

“Who _can_ you get it up for, then?”

Hakyeon cries internally. _What is wrong with me?_

 

Sanghyuk isn’t sure what he’s thinking when he grabs Hakyeon’s shirt and drags him closer. Frustration, maybe? He’s embarrassed that he even thought talking about this was a good idea. Especially with Hakyeon. Hakyeon, who probably saw him as a brat who needed babysitting. Hakyeon, who had quickly become what his life revolved around.

The lips on his are demanding and Sanghyuk doesn’t know exactly when Hakyeon had pushed him up against the wall. _He_ had started the kiss, right? And yet _Hakyeon_ was…

Hakyeon’s hands tugged Sanghyuk’s shirt free from the half apron slid the sides of his shirt up but went no further than his waist, where they stayed, setting fire to the skin there despite being freezing cold.

Sanghyuk’s hands are still gripping Hakyeon’s shirt, until Hakyeon presses closer.

 

The surprised gasp from Sanghyuk is what pumps some awareness into him and Hakyeon stumbles back into the counter. In front of him stands Sanghyuk, face red with eyes wide and lips wet and swollen.

“Hyukkie… I-I didn’t mean to–”

He cuts himself off, not even sure what he was trying to say. Sanghyuk’s gaze falls to the floor, embarrassed, but also really, really confused. He’d started it hadn’t he? Why was Hakyeon apologising? Did he really think of Sanghyuk as a kid? Yes, he’d started the kiss, but Hakyeon had definitely, _definitely_ been kissing back. That had to mean something, right? Or was it a pity kiss?

Sanghyuk realises in that split second that Hakyeon’s next words are either going to make him very happy, or they’re going to break his heart.

Hakyeon, however, breaks his own heart. What the hell was he _doing_? Kissing Sanghyuk like that? Sanghyuk who was probably confused now. Sanghyuk who was young and probably experimenting. That was it, wasn’t it? That was the reason Sanghyuk had pulled him into a kiss. He was just wondering if he was gay and that was why he hadn’t done anything with his girlfriend. Hakyeon had done the same thing, except he’d been a bit younger.

It didn’t matter that Hakyeon had liked Sanghyuk all year, that Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays were brighter now that Sanghyuk was always in them, that he was Hakyeon’s support when he got down on himself. All that mattered was the Sanghyuk had a girlfriend.

Hakyeon clears his voice, not meeting Sanghyuk’s eyes. “I think maybe you should go home for the night.”

Sanghyuk bites his lip and nods. “Okay.”

He takes off the half apron, fixes his shirt, and leaves without so much as a look in Hakyeon’s direction because he’s holding back tears. If he _had_ looked, he would have seen Hakyeon sink to the floor behind the counter. And if he had stayed only two seconds longer he would have heard Hakyeon begin to sob.

 

“Hyuk,” his mother says through his door. “Mari is here.”

Sanghyuk groans into his bed, where he’s lying face down. The door opens and his girlfriend enters. She apologises for coming over at such a late hour but his mum laughs it off.

“What are you doing? You’ve normally apologised by now,” Mari says.

Sanghyuk doesn’t lift his head.

“Hyuk?” she asks softly. “I’m sorry, too, you know. If you’re not ready then we don’t have to.”

Sanghyuk shakes his head. Mari frowns and sits on the edge of the bed to stroke his hair.

“Are you okay?”

They’d only been going out for six months but Mari had been his friend long before she was his girlfriend. She knows his normal behaviour after a fight, avoidance for twenty four hours and then numerous apologies before a brief make-up kiss.

“Did something happen today?” she asks slowly.

Mari is only half-expecting the small nod her boyfriend gives. Before she can ask what happened Sanghyuk turns his head to reveal his tear strained face.

“I’m in love with someone from work.”


	8. Push and Pull

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter continues directly on from the last.

Year 2: Semester 2: Week 10: Tuesday+Wednesday

Mari had not been expecting that. Despite wanting to be calm and understanding, she feels cheated. She was Sanghyuk’s girlfriend, he should love _her_.

“Who is she?” Mari asks calmly.

She can’t be hypocritical, she doesn’t love Sanghyuk either, at least not the way she’s supposed to.

Sanghyuk buries his face back in the bed and she can barely make out the muffled, “It’s a guy.”

The sobs that follow this statement surprise Mari more than the actual statement. In the five and a half years she’d know Sanghyuk, she’d never seen him cry.

They had gotten together after much prompting from their friends when they grudgingly admitting that they ‘liked’ each other. They’d both figured out that their relationship wouldn’t make it past graduation, but they’d both hoped that their friendship would last a lot longer. It’s that hope that Mari is thinking of when she pushes back her own tears of betrayal and returns to stroking her boyfriend’s hair.

“It’s okay, Hyuk.”

“I just want to be normal,” he sobs back.

Mari tugs on his hair sharply.

“Ow,” Sanghyuk mutters, turning to give her a watery glare.

“You _are_ normal, you idiot,” Mari grumbles. “There is nothing abnormal about being gay.”

They stare at each other, only the occasional sniff from Sanghyuk breaking the silence. Eventually Mari sighs and stands up.

“Let’s go buy some ice-cream.”

As they walk out of the house Sanghyuk’s mum throws them a worried look.

Mari smiles at her. “He’s just overreacting. We’ll be back soon.”

Sanghyuk’s family didn’t really eat ice-cream. Both of his parents preferred sorbet, which Sanghyuk hated, so this trip was necessary in Mari’s eyes.

They get back to his house with one litre each. In the time in which they had been gone everybody had gone to bed, so they sneak through the house.

An hour of talking, and half a tub each means that they’re both feeling considerably better.

“So we’re breaking up?” Sanghyuk asks.

“There’s no point staying together if you’re not even slightly interested in me.”

“Sorry…” Sanghyuk says for the millionth time.

“Stop it,” Mari says, also for the millionth time. “Don’t you have work tomorrow?”

The look on Sanghyuk’s face reveals that he’d completely forgotten about that. He always worked Wednesday afternoons with Hakyeon. Mari holds back a laugh.

“What am I going to do?”

Mari gives Sanghyuk a genuine smile. “You could confess.”

 

 

When the shop door opens a part of Hakyeon is hoping it’s Sanghyuk. The rest of him knows that it’s a tossup between a robber/murderer and Taekwoon.

A big hand reaches out and Hakyeon takes it, letting himself be pulled to his feet. Taekwoon doesn’t say anything, he just pulls his best friend into a hug. Hakyeon sobs into his shoulder, apologising for not going home, probably worrying Taekwoon to death. Taekwoon rubs and pats his back soothingly.

Taekwoon finds their reversed positions a little weird, usually Hakyeon was comforting him, but not it’s not the first time and he doesn’t mind. In the same way that Hakyeon was always there for him, Taekwoon would always be there for Hakyeon.

“I kissed Hyukkie,” Hakyeon cries. “I kissed Hyukkie.”

Taekwoon’s hand on his back only pauses for a second before it returns to it’s reassuring ways. What was he supposed to say to that? Taekwoon hadn’t even known that Hakyeon liked Sanghyuk. Wait, had Hakyeon told him about this and he just hadn’t been listening? No, he always listened if it was about their friends. Was he supposed to have noticed flirting? Because he’s pretty bad at that.

Questions swirl around in Taekwoon’s head. Did Sanghyuk like Hakyeon back? Was there any actual liking involved or was it just like with Jaehwan and Hongbin and purely physical? How had this even started? Instead of asking any of them Taekwoon just hugs Hakyeon tighter.

“Let’s go home,” he says.

Taekwoon’s voice is so tiny that Hakyeon isn’t sure what he says at first, but then he just nods and pulls back from the hug. He wipes his eyes on his apron and throws it in the dirty hamper out back before clocking off – he clocks Sanghyuk off too – setting the alarm and joining Taekwoon at the door.

“Sorry.”

Taekwoon takes his hand like he used to when they were kids and they begin the walk home. Hakyeon babbles on and on as they walk and by the time they reach the apartment fifteen minutes later Taekwoon knows the whole story. He knows every story from the time when Sanghyuk had started working at the coffee shop. His conclusion is that Hakyeon is an idiot.

“It didn’t mean anything, it was just him experimenting, wasn’t it?” Hakyeon asks for the tenth time. “That or he was just messing around.”

While Hakyeon hasn’t given him a chance to answer the first question yet, it’s what he added to the end that makes Taekwoon open his mouth before Hakyeon can continue.

“Do you really think Sanghyuk is so childish or mean?”

Hakyeon had thrown himself on to the couch the second they’d walked in the door and Taekwoon had sat down on the floor beside it so he could hear all of Hakyeon’s mumbles. This meant that to meet Taekwoon’s eyes all Hakyeon had to do was turn his head. He hadn’t really expected a scolding from Taekwoon – because by Taekwoon’s standards this _was_ a scolding – during his pity party.

“No,” Hakyeon mutters, slightly ashamed of himself.

“Wasn’t he upset too?”

“Yes.”

“Then it meant something.”

Taekwoon leaves it at that. He pats Hakyeon on the head, mentions that there is bolognaise in the fridge, and then goes to his room.

“But _what_ did it mean?” Hakyeon asks nobody in particular. “And what am I supposed to do about tomorrow?”

Taekwoon reappears with his towel in hand, heading for the shower. It was really late, yes, but they were both awake so it didn’t matter.

“Just do what you want,” Taekwoon says without stopping to look at Hakyeon. “It’s okay to be selfish sometimes.”

 

 

Hakyeon and Sanghyuk don’t make eye contact. They arrive at the coffee shop at the same time and Hakyeon politely holds the door open. Sanghyuk mumbles a thanks and they enter.

The shift starts off incredibly slow. Wednesdays are boring, it was as simple as that. Hakyeon keeps leaving Sanghyuk to man the register _and_ make coffee to go gather empty cups. After he’s done this four times there are no more and he instead has to suffer through the silence. Finally Hakyeon clears his throat and looks over at the teen.

“Did you make up with Mari?” he asks unwillingly.

Isn’t that what a friend would ask? A friend would want his relationship to be happy, wouldn’t they?

Sanghyuk looks over and meets Hakyeon’s gaze. “Yes, but we broke up.”

Hakyeon frowns in confusion. “You made up but then broke up?”

Hakyeon tries not to feel happy about the situation. Sanghyuk was probably pretty upset about it so Hakyeon would do his best to support his friend.

“That’s sucks, Hyukkie,” he says. “Why did you break up?”

A customer appearing prevents Sanghyuk from answering and Hakyeon hates them a little bit. When they’ve finished the customer’s order Sanghyuk clears his throat nervously.

“I like someone else.”

Hakyeon feels his heart sink. It’s already broken into a million pieces, it can’t break anymore. But it can sink a little deeper.

“Oh, really?” he asks, forcing a smile.

Sanghyuk is kind of amused that Hakyeon doesn’t know how to read between the lines, he’s also annoyed by it. Seeing that forced smile on Hakyeon’s face makes him wonder how he hadn’t known Hakyeon’s feelings until now. Was he always forcing that smile in front of people? When Sanghyuk had been talking about Mari?

“It’s you, you idiot,” the teen says, deciding that he’d rather confess and risk rejection that see Hakyeon pretend to be happy.

Hakyeon’s eyes flash up to meet the other man’s. “I love you too!” he blurts loudly.

Sanghyuk’s eyes widen in surprise.

“I-I mean, I mean t-that I-I _like_ y-you too,” Hakyeon corrects, turning the same shade as a tomato and hiding his face in his hands.

 _How old are you?_ Hakyeon cries to himself.

Beneath the embarrassment he’s unsure of how exactly he’s feeling. His heart is pounding so fast in his chest, reconstructed but still hurting just a bit from yesterday’s trauma.

Sanghyuk gently pulls Hakyeon’s hands away from his face. “You’re cute,” he says before planting a kiss on the older man’s lips.

 

Someone noisily clearing their throat on the other side of the counter has them pushing each other away.

“I-I am so sorry, miss,” Hakyeon apologises before he can even see who it is.

The girl there grins at him. “Oh no, by all mean, carry on.”

“Mari,” Sanghyuk complains.

“Oh,” Hakyeon mutters. “I didn’t recognise you, you got a haircut.”

“Most guys don’t notice when a girl gets a haircut, they don’t forget her face entirely.”

Hakyeon apologises again and Mari laughs. “Hyuk demanded that I come and give him moral support when he told me he was going to confess. But it looks like he doesn’t need it.”

“Mari,” Hyuk complains again, cheeks heating up. “Stop it.”

Mari grins. “Alright then. Can I get an iced mocha?”

“Sure,” Hakyeon agrees, putting in the order. “Anything else?”

“Hmm, a mixed berry muffin.”

 

“Are you my boyfriend now?” Sanghyuk asks shyly when they’re on break.

It amazes Hakyeon that Sanghyuk can be so bold about somethings – like randomly kissing out of nowhere in public – but then so shy about other things – like actually talking about relationships. They’d been in here for more than twenty minutes talking about nothing important, but only now had Sanghyuk apparently gotten the nerve to ask.

“Yep,” Hakyeon smiles.

“Are we going to tell the others?”

“Maybe we should wait until you graduate to tell people,” Hakyeon suggests.

“Why?”

“Because a news story titled ‘twenty-three year old education student caught dating high schooler’ is exactly the kind of thing that would prevent me from getting a job in the future,” Hakyeon supplies, only half joking.

Sanghyuk smiles and then pouts. “But I don’t graduate for another month and a half…”

“Sorry, Hyukkie.”

“It’s okay,” Sanghyuk says, still pouting.

Hakyeon is considering leaning across and kissing his now-boyfriend when the door to the break room opens and another staff member comes in.

“You guys are back out now.”

“Thanks,” Hakyeon says as they leave the room. “Make sure you tell your mum, though. I don’t want her to misunderstand if she finds out somehow.”

“I’ll tell her tonight,” Sanghyuk says over his shoulder with a smile.


	9. I Won’t Leave + This Is New

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is actually two shorter chapters combined into one. Part 1 explains how Taekwoon goes from being despondent at the beginning of chapter 7, to going to find Hakyeon in chapter 8. Part 2 shows Wontaek’s relationship slowly changing as Taekwoon becomes more comfortable with sex. This chapter is very un-chronological so just be aware of that.
> 
> Warning: part 2 is semi-smut.

Part 1: I Won’t Leave

Year 2: Semester 2: Week 10: Tuesday

Hakyeon isn’t one hundred percent sure of Wonshik’s timetable, but that doesn’t stop him from calling him as he walks to work. He had asked Taekwoon if he wanted Hakyeon to call Wonshik and the answer was no. That wasn’t going to stop him either because he knew what Taekwoon could do to himself when he got like this.

“Hakyeon?” Wonshik answers finally.

“Are you in class?”

“Yeah, politics tutorial. What’s up?”

“Taekwoonie is having a bad day, can you go check on him a bit later?”

Wonshik had heard about Taekwoon’s bad days before from the group so he wasn’t hugely alarmed to hear this. He _was_ worried enough to devote the rest of his day to Taekwoon though.

“Sure.”

“Thanks Wonshikkie,” Hakyeon says. “Come grab the key from the coffee shop when you’re heading over, okay?”

“Sure.”

About forty-five minutes later Wonshik is getting the key from Hakyeon.

“He won’t just open the door?” Wonshik asks after ordering a coffee.

“Not today.”

Hakyeon gives Wonshik a brief run down on what Taekwoon was supposed to do today and then turned to the next customer.

 

“Taekwoon?” Wonshik calls after opening the front door.

Taekwoon is barely awake when Wonshik enters his bedroom. The dark circles under his eyes reveal that he’d been up all night and Wonshik decides what they’re going to spend the afternoon doing in a second.

“Wonshik,” Taekwoon mumbles sleepily, beginning to rouse himself.

Wonshik strips down to just his underwear and quickly crawls into the bed. He pulls Taekwoon against himself, wrapping their bodies together.

“Mmm, let’s sleep for a little bit,” Wonshik replies, hoping that Taekwoon will get some rest.

Wonshik was the kind of person that could sleep anywhere, so he had no trouble falling asleep wrapped up with Taekwoon. Taekwoon on the other hand had always found sleep elusive. It was slippery, he’d be falling asleep and just as he was about to succumb, he’d be wide awake. Today it’s different. Maybe it was because he hadn’t slept all night. Maybe it was because he’d already been half asleep. Or maybe it was the man now curled up in his arms. Whatever the reason, Taekwoon feels himself be pulled under and finally his thoughts shut off.

 

Taekwoon wakes up first, jolting awake. He had slept in the same bed as Wonshik five times now, and he usually fell asleep after and woke up before the other man.

 He should let Wonshik sleep and do what Hakyeon had told him to do instead of letting his thoughts crawl back again. Hakyeon had probably known that he hadn’t slept last night, but he’d probably told Taekwoon to get out of bed so that he didn’t spend the whole day just thinking. It was tried and true, getting out of bed always helped. Having someone to distract him usually helped too. Earlier in the year it had been Sanghyuk, this time it was Wonshik.

He spends a long time just staring at Wonshik who always found it so easy to sleep. Taekwoon didn’t want Wonshik to see him like this. Weak. Useless. Unstable. Wonshik would definitely leave him if he knew how weak he was.

When Taekwoon starts to untangle himself from Wonshik, who is apparently having none of it, he’s still thinking along those lines. Wonshik squeezes his arms tighter and buries his face in Taekwoon’s chest.

“You should sleep longer,” he mumbles.

Taekwoon returns his arms around Wonshik’s body and squeezes back. He can feel the tiny bumps that some of Wonshik’s scars have and gently runs his fingers over them.

“I’m awake now,” Taekwoon says.

Wonshik had pretended he hadn’t noticed Taekwoon’s rather random sleep patterns. He had pretended he hadn’t noticed when Taekwoon was holding back when Wonshik had asked how he’d slept. He had pretended he hadn’t noticed the nightmares. He didn’t wake up screaming, he didn’t make a sound, he would just jerk slightly in his sleep and wake up. In turn it would wake up Wonshik but he didn’t care. It hadn’t happened every night they’d slept in the same bed, only two of them. It had happened again today.

Today, Wonshik doesn’t pretend he didn’t know. Maybe it wasn’t the best day to suddenly bring it up, what with it already being a bad day, but Wonshik thought they needed to talk about it.

“Did you have another nightmare?” he asks.

“How did you know?” Taekwoon asks back, surprised.

Wonshik is pretty sure in that moment that he shouldn’t have brought it up. Everything he could think of that would answer that question – that was truthful, that is – would make Taekwoon feel bad about himself, or worse than he already did anyway.

“I just do,” Wonshik says.

It isn’t a real answer and Taekwoon doesn’t like it. He wants to know. Is he a nuisance to Wonshik when they sleep together? Wonshik doesn’t like that answer either so he just admits the truth, even if it doesn’t specifically answer the question.

“Because I want to know everything. It doesn’t matter if you think it makes you weak. It doesn’t matter if you would hide it from everyone else. Tell me because nothing can chase me off. I won’t leave you.”

Taekwoon’s heart is pounding. A little bit because he’s stressed and a whole lot because he’s flattered. “Really?” he asks.

“Of course. You tell me everything about you, and I’ll tell you everything about me. No hiding. Always be honest with me.”

“Okay.”

Wonshik plants a kiss on Taekwoon’s lips, intending for it to be a peck. Surprisingly it’s Taekwoon that deepens it and Wonshik that breaks it. Both of them knew that nothing would be happening today, it would be unfair on both of them.

They cuddle for a while, occasionally kissing, before Wonshik stretches in Taekwoon’s arms and groans.  “Let’s go clean,” he suggests.

 

The apartment really wasn’t that messy. It pretty much just needed a vacuum and a wipe. Wonshik points out the note Hakyeon had left demanding bolognaise and Taekwoon starts with that.

They’d apparently slept for around four and a half hours but Taekwoon still looks exhausted. Once the bolognaise is cooking they get the apartment clean in record time. Wonshik keeps drawing Taekwoon into the conversation with surprising ease, chatting about their friends and homes. Taekwoon is glad that Hakyeon had called Wonshik.

 

At eight o’clock Taekwoon tells Wonshik to go home.

“Are you sure?” Wonshik asks.

“Go. I’m just doing homework anyway.”

Wonshik had run out of homework an hour ago but he doesn’t really want to leave Taekwoon here alone. He presses a kiss to Taekwoon’s cheek and stands up.

“You’ll be okay, right?”

Taekwoon smiles up at him. “Of course.”

He was honestly in a different state of mind than he had been this morning. Because of Wonshik? Maybe. Because he hadn’t been able to dwell on his thoughts? Probably.

 “I’ll see you tomorrow in the library, okay?”

Taekwoon plants his own kiss on Wonshik’s cheek. “Okay.”

 

Taekwoon had finished all of his homework by ten-thirty. He yawns and sinks down into the couch, not even realising that he’d fallen asleep until he wakes up to a text.

 _Good night,_ Wonshik had sent.

 _See you tomorrow,_ he sends back.

He sees the time then, eleven-forty-five. Why hadn’t Hakyeon woken him up when he’d gotten home?

“Hakyeon?” Taekwoon calls.

He gets no answer so he checks every room only to realise that Hakyeon wasn’t here. Was he still at work? He had no reason to be, it closed at ten on Tuesdays. Frowning Taekwoon calls Hakyeon’s number but he doesn’t answer. The second call is also left to ring. Despite thinking that Hakyeon has no reason to be at work, Taekwoon grabs his keys and phone and leaves the apartment.

He practically jogs the one kilometre to the coffee shop, thinking that he should probably start working out again. He’s more worried than he’s been in a long time. The lights in the coffee shop were still on and Taekwoon’s first thought is that Hakyeon has hurt himself somehow and is stuck inside.

When he opens the front door to the store the soft sniffling gives away the real situation. He finds Hakyeon behind the counter and holds out his hand. Right now, Hakyeon is the one who needs comforting.

 

 

Part 2: This Is New

Year 2: Semester 2: Week 14 (Exams)

Wonshik shivered under Taekwoon’s fingers. His refusal to get out of bed had resulted in Taekwoon getting bored and sitting by his side, tracing the marred skin and making patterns and pictures.

“Feels nice,” Wonshik mumbles.

Wonshik turns his head so he can see Taekwoon, who is focussed on the scars.

“Taekwoon.”

Taekwoon meets Wonshik’s eyes easily.

“Do you want to meet my family?”

Taekwoon nods.

They’re silent for several more minutes before Taekwoon manhandles him onto his back and kisses him.

“This is new,” Wonshik remarks when the kiss is over.

It wasn’t that Taekwoon didn’t initiate kisses or touching, it was just that he was never the first one to do it. Taekwoon leans down again so they can kiss, pulling one of Wonshik’s hands up to touch his waist.

Without breaking the kiss Taekwoon climbs on top of Wonshik and lets his fingers find Wonshik’s nipples. There was nothing new about this in terms of position, what was new was when Taekwoon ground his hips down.

Wonshik pulls away from the kiss with a gasp. “Taekwoon!”

His head is spinning a little. Taekwoon was initiating everything. He can feel his own body responding but he pulls back to give Taekwoon a look.

“Are you sure?”

Taekwoon meets his eyes and nods, guiding Wonshik’s hand beneath his pants and grinding down again. Wonshik groans, something about Taekwoon initiating was incredibly hot.

 

 

Year 2: Semester 2: Week 9: Friday

Sometimes Wonshik forgot that the scars were there. Taekwoon’s gasp is what made him remember one time. He’d been so careful not to let Taekwoon see last week, even wearing a t-shirt to bed, but he’d entirely forgotten this time.

Taekwoon was completely taken by surprise when he saw Wonshik’s back for the first time. He himself had been beaten a lot, but he didn’t have any scarring. All of his injuries had been internal, broken bones, bruising and occasionally internal injuries. Seeing the scars on Wonshik’s back made him wonder what inflicted them. Some look like they could be from a belt, other’s look like they would be from something more solid…

“Ah, sorry Taekwoon,” Wonshik had said, scrambling for a shirt.

Taekwoon had just shaken his head, caught Wonshik’s hands, and pulled him into a kiss.

“You don’t have to hide them,” Taekwoon had murmured.

 

 

Year 2: Semester 2: Week 10: Friday+Saturday

Wonshik’s hands started down Taekwoon’s towards his pants, pausing at the waistband. Wonshik stopped instantly, feeling Taekwoon become uncomfortable and nervous.

“It’s okay,” Wonshik says, planting a kiss on Taekwoon’s throat. “We’ll go as slow as you need to.”

Taekwoon appreciates it a lot, but he can feel how hard Wonshik is beneath him.

“I want to.”

Wonshik pushes Taekwoon back so they can see each other’s faces.

“Don’t lie,” Wonshik says. “I don’t want to do anything further until you’re absolutely sure.”

They’d gone as far as hand jobs last weekend so Taekwoon figures Wonshik won’t back out of that because that’s what he’s comfortable with.

Taekwoon sinks back down onto Wonshik’s chest, kissing along his jawline to his ear. “Please touch me.”

 

When Wonshik woke up Taekwoon was trailing his fingers over his ribs and waist and hip.

“Come take a shower with me,” Taekwoon suggests.

Wonshik’s eyes flash open and he looks into his boyfriend’s eyes, questioning his intentions.

“Hongbin went out just now.”

A minute later they’re stripped and in the shower. It’s the first time they’ve showered together and Taekwoon is obviously nervous, but Wonshik kisses him.

“We don’t have to do anything, just because we’re naked,” he says.

Taekwoon’s response is to kiss him back.

 

“I think I heard Hongbin come back,” Wonshik murmurs in Taekwoon’s ear several minutes later.

“Then we should stop,” Taekwoon says with absolutely no conviction.

Wonshik disagrees. He’s already got the older man pressed up against the wall of the shower thanks to the making out that just took place. Taekwoon wanting to stop last night had definitely been nerves because Wonshik was being allowed to touch _everywhere_ right now. He doesn’t push his luck though. He’d meant what he said and he and Taekwoon weren’t going all the way until Taekwoon was completely good with it.

Wonshik presses their bodies closer, eliciting a soft moan from Taekwoon when their hips press into each other

“Or,” Wonshik purrs, “we could just be really quiet.”

The hot lips against his own prevent Taekwoon from answering but he doesn’t really mind because Wonshik has begun grinding gently against him.

 

“You guys sure took your time in there,” Hongbin remarks.

Hakyeon makes no comment, but he does waggle his eyebrows suggestively, earning an elbow from Hongbin who hates that.

Taekwoon’s cheeks heat but Wonshik simply grins. “What of it?”

Taekwoon sits down on the couch and Wonshik lies down with his head on his lap.


	10. Graphic Design Snob

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is basically the Hakyeon and Taekwoon meet Hongbin incident from chapter 6, but showing Hongbin’s perspective a little more.

Year 1: Semester 1: Week 4: Wednesday

Taekwoon is zoning out a little, not because he’s bored, but because he’s a bit overwhelmed. He’d missed three weeks of this class, both the lecture and the tutorial, and hadn’t know the class was this big. The tables are grouped up to promote group discussion and there were nine people at his, ten at the one behind him, and eight at the table on the far side of the room. It was the biggest tutorial size he’d ever had before.

For the first hour they had discussed the week’s topic from the lecture, now they were having a tiny break, meaning that the noise was ridiculous. The tutor’s voice pulls Taekwoon out of his thoughts and the noise level drops significantly, almost instantly.

“Okay, for the assignment you need to be in groups of two to four and have at least two different specialisations present. That means that you can’t have a group of four and everybody is specialising in drawing. Once you’ve got your group split up the tables and you can start discussing what you want to do.”

Most of the people have already got their little friend groups so Taekwoon isn’t surprised by how quickly the room begins splitting up. They easily shuffle around so that the groups have enough specialisations.

 

“Who is that guy?” someone in Hongbin’s group asks.

He turns to see that they’re looking at the silent guy at the front table. Hongbin can’t recall seeing him at any lectures or tutorials before, had he just transferred into the class? This week was the last week you could change courses.

“Jung Taekwoon, maybe? That’s the only name that never got answered for the last few weeks. First year, do you think?”

“I think he’s a third year,” another person adds. “Some of his stuff is displayed in the art room for the drawing labs.”

Their group had two photography, a drawing and a painting specialisation. Hongbin knew them from other classes but wasn’t really friends with them. All he knew about them was that they were also first years.

“Should we ask him to join our group?”

“We already have four. If he joins then someone has to go.”

“Is he waiting for people to come to him? That’s a bit high and mighty of him,” the other photography student scoffs.

“Who _would_ join him?”

“I will,” Hongbin surprises himself by saying.

He didn’t really like the bullying undertone that had seeped into the conversation. Besides, wouldn’t this assignment be easier with only two people?

Hongbin gathers up his stuff and goes to join Jung Taekwoon at his table. He sits down across from him and pulls out the assignment sheet.

“Hi.”

Jung Taekwoon pulls out his phone and ignores Hongbin. Hongbin can’t believe it.

“Um, is it okay if I work in a group with you?”

Still he gets no answer. Once he’s finished texting Jung Taekwoon sinks down a bit in his chair, as if he’s trying to hide a little. Hongbin crosses his arms and purses his lips. He’d left a perfectly good group to come over here and get snubbed. He can’t go back now, what would they say about Jung Taekwoon then?

For five minutes the third year doesn’t offer more than a few nervous glances. Hongbin is a bit confused, but also annoyed. Would it really just kill this guy to look him in the eye and tell him that he doesn’t want to work together?

The door to the room opens and in walks a man who was definitely in the wrong place going by the textbook he had tucked under his arm. To Hongbin’s surprise the tutor invites the man in. And then to throw Hongbin off even more, the man walks straight over to his table.

“Woon, what’s wrong?” he asks, a little out of breath.

Jung Taekwoon motions vaguely at Hongbin and the new arrival turns to stare at him.

“Group work?”

Instead of speaking, Jung Taekwoon nods.

Hongbin watches on, still confused, as the man sits down at their little table and begins reading the assignment sheet. Was he in this group too then? Hongbin should just ask.

“What are you specialising in?” the man questions before Hongbin can get a word in.

“Photography.”

“Awesome,” the man says. “Oh, I’m Hakyeon, by the way.”

Hongbin takes the offered hand. “Hongbin.”

Hongbin realises then, probably too late, that Taekwoon had called Hakyeon here when he was texting before. He feels a little bad that he had started to think badly of Taekwoon because he hadn’t spoken. Obviously he didn’t speak. Did he have no voice? Or was it something else.

Hongbin agrees to go to Taekwoon and Hakyeon’s house to work on the assignment, the sooner they got it finished the better. They end up not discussing the assignment after that, silently agreeing that they’d do that later.

“What are you specialising in, Taekwoon?” Hongbin asks suddenly.

Taekwoon doesn’t answer, he just looks at Hongbin for a bit before looking at Hakyeon.

“Are you doing a creative arts course?” Hakyeon asks.

“Yeah.”

“Ah, well Taekwoon is actually doing a graphic design course so technically he’s specialising in all of it. It’s an elective for him, kind of a throw-away class.”

It’s compulsory for Hongbin, one of the many introductory subjects he needed to do so he could major in photography. He hadn’t even known that there was any graphic design students in this class.

Taekwoon touches Hakyeon’s arm.

“Did you email the tutor?”

Hongbin frowns in confusion. No? He didn’t email the tutor. Before he can say this though he notices the tiniest shake of the head from Taekwoon.

“You told me you were going to,” Hakyeon scolds.

The tutor, who had apparently been listening in, calls the class to attention.

“I should have mentioned this earlier, for the three graphic design students you can choose your specialisation. It has to be different to the others in your group though. You’re all third years you should be able to do something that is a challenge. If this is a major problem, come up here and talk to me.”

The volume in the room increases again and Hakyeon smiles.

“There you go, you can choose,” Hongbin says.

 

Year 1: Semester 1: Week 10: Monday

“I don’t want to do it,” Taekwoon whines suddenly.

Hongbin feels his mouth begin to open in surprise. This was the first time Taekwoon had spoken in front of him. Hongbin’s eyes meet Hakyeon’s who raises his eyebrows back at him as if asking ‘what are you going to do?’.

“Do what?” Hongbin asks calmly instead of showing how excited he actually is.

Apparently Taekwoon had nothing more to say on the subject so Hakyeon answers.

“Taekwoon has been asked to design the signs in the coffee shop.”

“Oh, that’s not too bad. It could be fun, couldn’t it?”

Taekwoon begs to differ. “It’s such a pain,” he whinges.

He groans his annoyance and stands up, abandoning them for his bedroom.

“Congratulations,” Hakyeon says half sarcastically. “Taekwoon will speak to you from now on. Mostly.”


	11. Standing Up

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter continues directly from the very end of chapter 9. Chronology? What’s that?

Year 2: Semester 2: Week 10: Saturday

It’s rare when none of them have to work on a Saturday. Taekwoon and Wonshik are taking up the whole couch, fresh from the shower and still in cuddle mode despite the teasing from Hongbin and Hakyeon. They’d come one step closer to pushing their relationship up to the next level this morning, but they both still knew it was probably a long way off. Hakyeon had claimed the armchair, so Hongbin and Jaewhan chose to sit on the floor.

Still they hadn’t acknowledged that they needed to have a talk about their relationship. Hongbin didn’t want to bring it up in case he was the only one who wanted more. Jaehwan didn’t want to bring it up because he knew Hongbin only wanted sex. It also probably didn’t help that they hadn’t been alone together in the last week and a half to even initiate a conversation like that.

“When is Sanghyuk getting here?” Jaehwan asks.

“Soon. I think his mum is dropping him off,” Hakyeon supplies.

Hakyeon had told Taekwoon that he and Sanghyuk were together. Sanghyuk had needed someone to talk to in his excitement and told Jaehwan. Jaehwan had accidentally let it slip to Hongbin in a text and Taekwoon had very deliberately told Wonshik. So basically the whole group knew. They had still decided to keep it from anyone else though, but their group now wouldn’t question why Sanghyuk was staying weekends.

The doorbell lets out a mangled ring, indicating that it needs new batteries just like it had for the last three years, and Hongbin bounces over to the door.

“Sanghy–” Hongbin’s cry of delight dies on his lips. “Dad.”

Wonshik, who had been resting his head on Taekwoon’s lap, shoots upright, turning to stare at the man he’d met only twice by Hongbin’s design and hadn’t liked either times.

Hongbin’s dad is in his early forties, having had Hongbin when he was twenty two, and still looks pretty good. He has all of his hair and he’s barely got any wrinkles, but something about him screams old. After one conversation it’s pretty obvious to anyone that it’s his views.

Hongbin’s mum on the other hand was older, in her fifties. She’d been married before and had had Hongbin’s sister then. There was a ten year age difference between his parents, and ten years between him and his sister.

“How did you–”

“Your sister told us that you moved,” the man snapped, cutting off Hongbin’s question before he could even ask it.

 _…find me?_ Hongbin finishes to himself.

Hongbin’s dad lets himself in, walking towards his son’s friends with a scowl. “Are these your _friends_?”

“Yes,” Hongbin answers shortly.

“Wonshik,” the man greets when he notices him.

“Sir.”

Hongbin’s dad’s eyes drift down to stare at Taekwoon’s hand, which was lingering nervously on Wonshik’s arm. He looks like he’s about to make a comment on it but Jaehwan standing up distracts him.

“Still doing that poofy photography, I see,” he sneers, motioning to a photo that had earned Hongbin a high distinction last semester and was now up for consideration for a prize.

The next few sentences that left the mouth of Hongbin’s dad are so surprisingly personal and hurtful that Hakyeon wants to cry. Jaehwan’s teeth clench and Wonshik, who has heard a lot of this from Hongbin but never witnessed it, surges to his feet.

However, it isn’t Jaehwan or Wonshik that shuts up Hongbin’s dad. It’s Taekwoon.

 

When Taekwoon’s left fist shot out and hit Hongbin’s dad in the face he wasn’t thinking about himself. He was thinking about Hongbin and the look on his face that said he’d heard everything before but it still hurt.

“Taekwoon!”

Hakyeon’s gasp of horror and disbelief would have been funny in other circumstances, right now it was ignored.

Taekwoon would have gone in for another punch if Wonshik hadn’t grabbed him from behind. He doesn’t struggle, instead he lets Wonshik pull him into the bedroom. He takes one look at Wonshik’s face, sees the surprise and falls face first onto the bed with a groan.

Standing up for yourself is one thing, you can be as passive or patient as you want. But standing up for someone else is different, Taekwoon knows. He’s never needed to do it before. Until university he was only friends with Hakyeon, who didn’t need protecting. But now he has Wonshik and Jaehwan and Hongbin and Sanghyuk who all stand up for him without thinking about it, and he’s happy to realise that he’s willing to do the same for them.

Wonshik climbs onto his bed and sits down next to Taekwoon, gently stroking his hair.

“Is your hand okay?” he asks.

“Mmm.”

Wonshik lifts the hand up and kisses it before letting it go. “Good.

Taekwoon rolls onto his side and Wonshik knows that it’s an invitation for cuddles. He lies down next to Taekwoon so that they’re face to face and feels Taekwoon’s arm hook over his waist and pull him closer.

 

In the lounge room the chaos continues. Hakyeon, who is still in a state of shock, watches on as Hongbin’s dad recovers himself. Beside him, Hongbin’s hand is wrapped around Jaehwan’s wrist and he suspects that Jaehwan would have hit the older man before Taekwoon if he hadn’t been held back.

“I think you should leave,” Hongbin says.

It isn’t angry. Hongbin isn’t angry. He’d spent his teenage years listening to those very slurs over and over from his parents and from his ‘friends’. His ability to get angry about it was gone. Instead he just got reminded of how miserable and lonely he’d felt for those two years of high school before his parents let him transfer from the extremely religious and strict school they’d chosen to a public school after a particularly bad beating.

Transferring schools meant that he was back in the closet, but it also meant that he felt safe at school. He’d been so careful around his new friends that he didn’t even act like himself, claiming absolute love for sports and girls. At the end of year nine Wonshik, who had been quick to befriend him, had invited himself over for a sleepover.

“Is that your sister?” Wonshik asks pointing to a photo on the way upstairs.

“Yep.”

“She’s pretty hot.”

“ _Dude_ ,” Hongbin complains.

Thankfully Hongbin’s dad was a nightshift worker and they’d arrived after he’d left. That was all Hongbin cared about right now. He could hear the comments ringing in his ears. Accusations that he’d brought Wonshik over for … well reasons. His mum would say the same things, but at least she’d wait until Wonshik has left before doing so.

They play games pretty late, snacking on chips and chocolate and drinking copious amounts of fizzy drink. It’s been a long time since Hongbin had had a friend stay over and he’d forgotten that at some point sleepovers usually moved from ‘fun’ to ‘real’, and it’s normally by accident.

“How did you get that scar?” Hongbin asks when they’re getting changed.

He hadn’t meant to even look in Wonshik’s direction, but that was where his eyes had wandered. Wonshik’s back was littered with scars of varying sizes and it completely took Hongbin by surprise. There were two big ones that stood out though.

One of Wonshik’s arms reaches over his shoulder to touch one that was there. “This one? I got this one when I fell off the trampoline as a kid and landed on some bricks.”

“The other one.”

It was about where his ribs ended and hadn’t quite faded into its silver glory like the others had. It was still pink but it definitely wasn’t new.

“Ah,” Wonshik mutters, pulling his shirt on. “My dad did that.”

Hongbin regrets asking. He stands there with his shirt in his hands, not knowing what to say.

Wonshik turns around and flashes a grin.

“Relax. I don’t care that you asked. My dad is an arsehole who used to beat his kids, it’s as simple as that.”

“Oh,” Hongbin mutters.

“What about you?” Wonshik asks, pointing towards the scar on Hongbin’s ribs.

He’s been hospitalised because of this and those kids had only received a week of suspension.

Hongbin knows that lying now would be unfair. Wonshik had just admitted something so personal, wouldn’t he be a horrible friend if he didn’t do the same? He could tell Wonshik, right?

“I got beaten up … at my old school.”

Wonshik could see Hongbin struggling with what he wanted to say. He doesn’t want to force Hongbin into saying anything he doesn’t want to. He’s about to change the subject to games again when Hongbin speaks up.

“They beat me up for being gay,” he blurts

He’s waiting for a punch. He’s waiting for the insults. He’s waiting for the hate. He’s waiting for all the things he’s come to expect when someone finds out he’s gay.

“You should have punched them in the face,” Wonshik says.

That is _not_ what Hongbin is expecting. The surprise is so clear on his face that Wonshik in turn is surprised.

“What?” he asks.

“You’re not… angry?”

“No? Why would I be?”

Wonshik knows that Hongbin is going to cry. Hongbin knows that he’s going to cry. He really doesn’t want to cry.

“Want to watch a movie?” Wonshik asks to distract him. “I brought my hard drive.”

“Sure,” Hongbin says thickly.

Hongbin composes himself while Wonshik commandeered his laptop. The screen comes alive and Hongbin curses himself. The last thing he’d been doing this morning before school was sorting through his photos, looking for a good one to see what he’d done right.

“These are pretty good,” Wonshik says thoughtfully as he scrolls through. “I can’t take a good photo to save myself.”

“Don’t tell anyone,” Hongbin mutters.

“It’s not something to be ashamed of,” Wonshik grumbles back.

“But… won’t the others think it’s gay? That I take photos?”

Wonshik scoffs. “Photography isn’t gay. The others won’t give a fuck.”

The rest of their group _really_ hadn’t given a fuck that he wanted to be a photographer, _or_ that he was gay. It had taken him another year of Wonshik’s convincing to tell them, and they’d said he should have told them earlier so they could set him up with someone.

Now, standing in the lounge room where he lived with Wonshik, and hearing all those words that made him afraid of being himself for so long, he remembers what it was like to be accepted for the first time. Wonshik had been the first person to ever accept him in his entirety – except for dipping fries in milkshakes, Wonshik didn’t get that – and encourage him. Their friends from high school may have scattered after graduation, but he had new friends now. And _Taekwoon_ just punched someone for him.

“You’re telling me to leave?” his dad asked, incredulous. “Your own father?”

Hongbin’s hand moves down to hold Jaehwan’s. Jaehwan squeezes it in support.

“Yes. You told me to get out two years ago and I’m telling you to get out now. I don’t want to see you ever again. I won’t let you stand there and insult me and my friends anymore.”

His voice shakes while he says it but he’s proud he got it out. Jaehwan squeezes his hand again, _Well done._

The tirade that follows is directed at everybody in the room and it draws out an angry Wonshik.

“Get the fuck out of my house,” he growls advancing towards the man. “Who do you think you are? You can’t just come into my house and spew your bigoted, twisted views all over the place.”

Wonshik’s expression must been terrifying because Hongbin’s dad backs up as he approaches. Maybe he had forgotten that Wonshik wasn’t a tiny – and he had been tiny – sixteen year old anymore. Wonshik was a tall, grown arse man.

When Hongbin’s dad decides to stand his ground Wonshik is having none of it. He grabs the older man’s shirt and drags him out the door.

“If you come back again I’m calling the police, and if you try to insult any of my friends again I can assure you that Taekwoon’s punch will feel like a pat on the cheek from your grandmother compared to what I’ll do to your face.”

The older man wrenches himself from Wonshik’s grip and stumbles back. He throws Wonshik a dirty look and then leaves.

Wonshik takes a deep breath and then turns to grin at his friends. “That’s done, then.”

“You know, Wonshikkie, you’re kind of hot when you’re all protective,” Hakyeon says.

Taekwoon, who must have appeared some time during the yelling, hits him on the head. Hakyeon whines.

“If I hadn’t known that you liked him I would have swooped in and had him for myself,” Hakyeon jokes.

Taekwoon looks offended and Wonshik holds back a grin to kiss his cheek.

“Don’t worry, my eyes were on you from the start,” he tells Taekwoon.

“Rude,” Hakyeon mutters with a fake pout.


	12. What Family Is

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Takes place directly after chapter 11. Hazzah!

Year 2: Semester 2: Week 10: Saturday

The original plan for the day had been to meet up, chat and maybe go out somewhere. Sure, they’d spent yesterday together, but Sanghyuk had left them early to celebrate his mum’s birthday and this was their attempt to make up for it. However, Hongbin’s dad had ruined the mood and they didn’t really want to hang out in a group anymore.

Sanghyuk shows up less than ten minutes after Hongbin’s dad gets thrown out. He listens to the story with great interest, getting a little too excited when he hears that Taekwoon had been the one to throw a punch. Afterwards they lapse into silence.

Hakyeon and Sanghyuk had already planned on going on a date today but they decide to ditch everybody early when it’s clear that the mood isn’t right for outings. They say they’re going out to eat but Hakyeon asking Taekwoon for the keys to the apartment gave away what they were really going to do.

Taekwoon, who is still a little amazed at himself, and Wonshik, who has gone from grinning to grumpy in the span of ten minutes, decide they need to go for a walk. Hongbin mentions that their fridge is pretty much out of food so Wonshik suggests they go have lunch somewhere and then go grocery shopping. Taekwoon agrees easily, feeling his boyfriend’s restlessness beginning to grow.

Jaehwan had been angry while Hongbin’s dad had been here but had since calmed down because Hongbin himself didn’t seem too bothered by any of it right now. Actually, Hongbin was feeling pretty good because of his friends. Having Taekwoon and Wonshik stand up for him like that makes him feel so damn happy. And Jaehwan’s support makes him realise that he needed to stop avoiding the inevitable talk that was going to happen. If Hongbin had it his way, it was happening today.

 

Wonshik had been feeding Taekwoon info on Jaehwan and Hongbin since he’d first found out they were fuck buddies. Mostly because he wanted someone to talk to about it, and also because Taekwoon had told him about Hakyeon and Sanghyuk. So when it became apparent that it was just going to be Hongbin and Jaehwan in the apartment they can’t help but meet each other’s eyes and hold back a grin. Wonshik throws Hongbin a thumbs up and a wink as he and Taekwoon leave and Hongbin goes ridiculously red.

“So,” Jaehwan starts slowly after too much silence. “What do you want to do?”

At any other time they would have already been ripping off each other’s clothes with pounding hearts. Yet here they were, _fully dressed_ with hearts pounding for entirely different reasons.

Hongbin takes a deep breath and forces the words from his mouth. “I think we need to talk.”

That small string of words has the power to make anybody nervous. It didn’t matter if you had done nothing wrong. That one sentence was enough to have you thinking of everything you could have ever done to get into this situation and what the future could possibly hold.

They sit on the couch and Hongbin sweats nervously. Jaehwan is also nervous. Had Hongbin seen him at school this week? Seen him refusing to give a guy Hongbin’s number? Was Hongbin going to break off their status as friends with benefits? Jaehwan would rather be sitting here with an aching heart but their relationship intact and Hongbin by his side, than not be able to have Hongbin at all.

 _You can do this_ , Hongbin tells himself. He can’t take it anymore. He has to tell Jaehwan.

“I don’t want to do this anymore,” he manages to say. _Just say it!_

Jaehwan’s heart breaks. “Why–”

“I don’t want to just have sex anymore,” Hongbin cuts him off. “I see you in your club and you have guys hanging around you and it drives me insane. I can’t–”

Jaehwan’s lips are only briefly against Hongbin’s before he instead buries his face in Hongbin’s neck.

“Me too,” he whispers.

Hongbin returns the embrace, kind of shocked. Hadn’t this gone too easily? Is Jaehwan joking? No, even Jaehwan wasn’t that insensitive.

When they kiss it’s reminiscent of the kiss outside the apartment after the movie. Even when Jaehwan’s hands slip under Hongbin’s shirt, they’re softer than usual, not as urgent.

“I really like you,” Jaehwan murmurs.

Hongbin feels his heart soar. “I really like you too,” he says as he pulls back from the embrace.

Neither of them is sure who starts the next kiss.

They take their time, the complete opposite to what they’d normally do, and it’s Jaehwan that suggests they move to the bedroom. Hongbin only agrees because the thought of Wonshik coming back and finding them like this is horrifying, the thought of it being Taekwoon made him feel like a criminal.

 

Wonshik does come back, but not until much later. By then Hongbin and Jaehwan have already showered and are sitting on the couch, hands twined.

It’s Taekwoon that notices, a little smirk appearing on his face before he can hide it.

“Why is Taekwoon cooking?” Hongbin asks as the eldest among them starts pulling out pans and knives.

“Because he’s staying over,” Wonshik replies like it’s obvious.

“He stayed over last night.”

“He’s staying over again.”

Hongbin pouts a little but doesn’t say anything.

“I’m also staying over,” Jaehwan adds.

Wonshik raises his eyebrows. “Okay?”

When Wonshik and Taekwoon are thoroughly engrossed in preparing dinner Hongbin leans over to Jaehwan.

“What was that?” he asks in a whisper.

“You can’t lose to _Wonshik_.”

 

 

Year 2: Semester 2: Week 11: Thursday

“Do you have three brothers or four?” Hongbin asks.

“Three brothers and two sisters,” Jaehwan supplies. “Why?”

“You never talk about them.”

“That’s because I’m a jealous middle child,” Jaehwan jokes. Really it was because he just never got around to talking about his family.

“It must be nice having siblings.”

“Wrong. You have to share a room. They go through your stuff. They bully you incessantly. They chase off potential partners. They will dob you in when you skip school.”

Hongbin sighs. It still sounds better than being an only child and having all of the attention. Well, Hongbin wasn’t an only child but with the age gap between him and his older sister he may as well have been. She had already moved out by the time he was ten.

Jaehwan, who senses Hongbin’s mood dip, pulls him closer on the couch. “You can come meet them, if you want.”

Hongbin looks up at Jaehwan. “You want me to meet your family?”

“Yep, we always have a big gathering on father’s day because a lot of them were born in this month, you can come then.”

“Really? Won’t I be intruding?”

“It’s a ‘partners too’ event. It’s going to be packed this year because I think everybody has a boyfriend or girlfriend.”

“Wait, isn’t Father’s Day next Sunday?”

 

Year 2: Semester 2: Week 13: Sunday

“Oh, you brought a friend?” Jaehwan’s mum asks when she opens the door to greet them.

Jaehwan and Hongbin meet each other’s eyes, both asking if they should correct her. They never get the chance to because she sees the look.

“Boyfriend?”

Jaehwan’s mouth opens and closes several times. Should he deny it? Should he confirm it? What was her reaction going to be?

“Yes,” Hongbin answers for him after too much time has passed.

He smiles charmingly at Jaehwan’s mum and holds out his hand. “I’m Lee Hongbin.”

She takes his hand with a warm smile of her own. “You can just call me ‘mum’ if you want. The other kids do.”

“Sure,” Hongbin replies, feeling himself relax a tiny bit.

Mum motions for Hongbin to enter the house and he does. Jaehwan follows. As he does his mother brushes her hand through his hair and then settles it onto his shoulder.

“Welcome home,” she says. “Both of you.”

 

The whole room cheers when Jaehwan enters with Hongbin. Jaehwan laughs and bows and Hongbin stands in confusion. Were they clapping because of the musical? That had to be it.

“Whoo!” one of the boys yells. “Jaehwan finally brought someone.”

“Hey,” Jaehwan protests.

Maybe it was his ridiculous confidence, but Jaehwan is unfazed. Hongbin on the other hand wants to hide.

“You’ve never brought anybody home before,” a girl teases. “ _Ever_.”

She’s holding hands with another girl and Hongbin thinks she might be older than Jaehwan, but he isn’t sure. They all look alike and they’re all shorter than Jaehwan so Hongbin feels like a giant. So much for hiding.

After a while everybody settles down and they sit around a massive dining table, only slightly squashed. Personal space apparently doesn’t exist in a family this big.

The girl who had been holding hands with Jaehwan’s sister is to his right. She is, in fact, Jaehwan’s older sister’s girlfriend of five years.

“Trust me,” she says, as if sensing that Hongbin was overwhelmed by the noise. “You’ll get used to it.”

Jaehwan, who is talking animatedly to one of his brothers, reaches for Hongbin’s hand and gives it a squeeze. Hongbin feels his face break into a smile and let’s himself be drawn into the conversation.

 

“Did you go visit your own dad?” Jaehwan’s younger sister asks not long after the food is brought out.

She’s only eleven months younger than him and apparently attends their university. Hongbin couldn’t believe it at first. How had their group never met her?

“Ah… no,” Hongbin replies.

“His dad’s a fucking arsehole,” Jaehwan grumbles.

“Language,” mum growls from somewhere among the sea of people. “Besides, if that’s the case, you can just spend holidays with us, Hongbin. If you want to, of course.”

Hongbin can’t help looking at Jaehwan. They’ve only been officially dating for a week, and here he was with his family, getting invited to family events. Hongbin definitely feels like he’s intruding, but an undeniable warmth has started to build in his chest.

Everybody is waiting for his answer with a smile on their face. Next to him, Jaehwan is also smiling and gently squeezes his hand in encouragement.

“That would be really great,” Hongbin answers finally, only to realise his throat has grown tight and there are tears in his eyes.

“Oh, honey,” mum says and suddenly everybody is making a fuss over him, asking if he’s alright and such. Even Jaehwan’s dad is trying to cheer him up with an endless stream of _really_ bad jokes.

Hongbin buries his face in Jaehwan’s throat just in time for the first sob to break. Jaehwan pulls him from the room, feeling Hongbin’s embarrassment at crying in front of everybody. Jaehwan feels his own throat growing tight and swallows against it, wrapping Hongbin up in a hug.

Hongbin’s sobbing doesn’t last long, and he pulls away from the embrace while clearing his throat.

“I’m sorry,” Hongbin says rubbing his face.

“It’s okay,” Jaehwan says, moving Hongbin’s hands away and then gently wiping the tears himself. “This is what family is.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the official Jaebin happy ending for Part 2. I technically changed when father’s day is but whatevs.


	13. He's Choose Me

Year 2: Semester 2: Week 12: Sunday+Monday

“Why are you ignoring all these calls from your mum?” Hakyeon asks as Sanghyuk once again leaves his phone to ring.

“Um.”

“Hyukkie?”

Sanghyuk pulls back from the cuddle and meets his boyfriend’s eyes. “Don’t be mad at me, okay?”

Hakyeon sits up. “What did you do?”

“I… I’ve kind of been telling my mum that I’ve been sleeping over at friend’s houses, last night she found out that I’d been lying.”

“Sanghyuk!” Hakyeon cries, standing up. “Oh my god!”

“Why are _you_ freaking out?” the younger man asks. “ _I’m_ the one that’s in trouble!”

“You told me that she was okay with us! Does she even know that you’re going out with me?!”

Sanghyuk guiltily avoids his boyfriend’s gaze.

“Sanghyuk!”

“After I told her that Mari and I broke up and that I’m gay I was going to tell her! I _was_! But then she said that maybe I should take a break from dating and wait until after exams are over!”

“Oh. My. God…”

Hakyeon sinks back onto the couch and puts his head in his hands.

“So I told her that we’d been organizing study dates to prepare for exams and that every weekend we’d spend the nights at someone’s house studying. But last night my friend went to my house asking where I was when I was supposed to be at his house.”

“Sanghyuk…” Hakyeon groans.

“I’m sorry,” the teen mutters. “Are you mad?”

Hakyeon meets his eye. “More annoyed that you didn’t just tell me from the start. There’s nothing we can do about it tonight. Text your mum and tell her you’re at a co-worker’s house and that you’ll see her tomorrow after school.”

“But–”

“Do it,” Hakyeon cuts him off.

Sanghyuk sends the text and then pouts at his boyfriend. Hakyeon wraps his arms around Sanghyuk and they fall to lie on the couch together.

“Tomorrow I’m coming over to meet your mum.”

Sanghyuk groans. “Okay,” he finally agrees, pulling Hakyeon closer. “So am I forgiven?”

“Mmm,” Hakyeon mumbles, lips against Sanghyuk’s neck. “We’ll see.”

 

Hakyeon is woken up by a kiss. He groans and rolls over, pulling the covers up over his chest as he does.

“I’m going to school now, Hakyeonie,” Sanghyuk says. “You should put some clothes on or you’ll get cold.”

Hakyeon simply groans again at the suggestion. “Have a good day.”

“Thanks. I’ll see you later, okay?”

“Mmhm.”

Hakyeon snoozes for another half an hour before he realises that Sanghyuk was right, it is too damn cold to be naked.

Hakyeon has three classes on a Monday. People always give him a pitying look when he mentions that they’re all before two o’clock, but he likes it. It means that he pretty much has the whole afternoon to himself to just do whatever he wants because he doesn’t have to work.

Today he’s not so lucky. After his last class he texts Taekwoon that he might be late to dinner or not there at all, explaining what had happened. Then he gets a load of washing going, leaving Taekwoon a note to put it in the dryer and fold what clothes were there.

At quarter to three Hakyeon starts for the bus stop. Sanghyuk lives about ten minutes away by car. By bus it normally takes half an hour because it’s just not possible for buses to go exactly where you want them to, or in straight lines. Today it takes forty minutes because of the school traffic.

Hakyeon has only been to Sanghyuk’s house once, but he’s never been inside or met his family. That thought makes him realise that he’s a little bit nervous.

Sanghyuk is waiting outside when Hakyeon gets there. He grins at his boyfriend as he approaches.

“Mum wouldn’t talk to me all day,” he says as a greeting.

“Oh, God,” Hakyeon mutters.

Sanghyuk pulls him into a brief kiss, still grinning. “I’m kidding, I just got home. She did tell me that I have to wait outside while you talk though.”

“What?”

Sanghyuk is already pushing Hakyeon towards the door, eager for his mum to meet his boyfriend. Hakyeon protests, chickening out a little, but Sanghyuk is stronger. He manages to get the older man inside the house and then pull the screen door shut.

“No,” Hakyeon whimpers through the wire door. “Hyukkie.”

Sanghyuk just smiles on the other side of the door. “My mum isn’t that scary.”

“Aren’t I?”

Hakyeon almost screams at the voice that comes from right beside him. A woman is leaning against the wall just to his left, arms crossed with an amused smile. When had she gotten there?

Hakyeon is a little surprised by how much Sanghyuk resembles her. She’s tall and thin and looks young, but all Hakyeon can imagine is those lovely features contorting into something else as she screams at him about corrupting her youngest child.

Sanghyuk’s mum motions for Hakyeon to follow her, her face completely emotionless. He looks back at Sanghyuk who has still got that stupid grin.

“Good luck, Hakyeonie,” the teen waves.

“Come on,” his mum calls when he doesn’t follow straight away.

For two minutes they sit in silence. To Hakyeon it feels much, _much_ longer. He should have been more nervous on the way here. Had he been too optimistic? She was definitely angry.

“Okay,” Sanghyuk’s mum says in a chirpy voice with a warm smile. “I’m finished playing now.”

Hakyeon’s mouth falls open a little. “Huh?”

She laughs. “Do you want a coffee?”

“S-sure?”

Hakyeon watches in a state of disbelief as the woman who had gone from terrifying to, well, _not_ terrifying in two seconds flat gets up and leaves the room. She’s back in less than two minutes with his coffee.

“I didn’t poison it,” she says, watching Hakyeon stare at the mug in his hands.

“Did Hyukkie explain everything to you?” he blurts.

“Not really. All I know is that he was telling me that he was sleeping at friends’ houses on weekends and then last night the friend whose house he was supposed to be at dropped by.”

“I’m really sorry,” Hakyeon says. “He told me that he’d explained everything to you and that you were okay with it.”

“You’re the co-worker from last night, right?”

“Uh, yes. That wasn’t technically a lie.”

 _‘Yes’ would have been good enough_ , he scolds himself.

She takes a sip of her coffee while still staring at Hakyeon. “You’re older than Hyuk, aren’t you?”

“I’m twenty-three.”

“That’s five years. Are you still a student?”

“Yes, I took a gap year, that’s why I’m a year older than normal. I graduate this year.”

“Five years is a big difference when one of you is eighteen.”

“I know, that’s why I told Hyukkie to talk to you after we got together.”

“Hyuk told me that it was your idea to come see me.”

“Um, yeah. I didn’t want you to misunderstand. I’m also kind of glad you asked him to wait outside.”

“Oh? Why’s that?” she asks.

Hakyeon smiles sheepishly into his coffee. “I thought, you know, just in case we fight.”

“You think he’d choose sides between us?”

“Please don’t take this the wrong way, but he’d choose me.”

Sanghyuk’s mum laughs and it makes her look ridiculously young. “I think he’d choose you too, he’s eighteen. No eighteen year old would choose their mother over their boyfriend or girlfriend.”

They chat for a while and eventually Sanghyuk is allowed inside. When he sits down next to Hakyeon and takes his hand, he’s got a weird, proud smile that makes Hakyeon feel warm and fuzzy, and makes his mum smile.

“So, do you want to stay for dinner, Hakyeon?” she asks after a while.

“Hakyeonie?” Sanghyuk asks hopefully, squeezing his hand.

It’s like a double attack and Hakyeon agrees easily.

 

Hakyeon isn’t really sure how he did it, but after dinner Sanghyuk convinces him to stay the night. Then he convinces his mum to let this happen. All through this Hakyeon is thinking that Sanghyuk could probably use his powers for evil, if he wanted.

Taekwoon’s response for this is a little discouraging, a simple good luck, and then later on he sends a winky face.

 

 _This is not a good idea_ , Hakyeon thinks. _This is definitely a bad idea._

He’s straddling Sanghyuk’s legs. Sanghyuk, who is sitting on his bed with his back against the wall, holds him there with the lightest of touches to his lower back. It had started from an innocent kiss. As it always did.

The first time they’d had sex it had been less than a week since they started dating. Hakyeon would like to blame Sanghyuk’s youth and curiosity, but frankly _he’d_ been the instigator and Sanghyuk had enthusiastically followed. Hakyeon takes pride in knowing that today, in Sanghyuk’s house, with his mother only a few rooms away in the lounge room, he was _not_ the one who started it.

“Let’s go on a holiday after you graduate,” Hakyeon had suggested.

Sanghyuk had rolled over so he was facing Hakyeon, instantly interested. “What would we be doing on this holiday?”

Hakyeon had been distracted from answering by Sanghyuk’s fingers suddenly running up the back of his thigh.

“This?” Sanghyuk asked, pulling Hakyeon’s leg up to hook it over his hip.

“You’re impossible,” Hakyeon had said, but he’d kissed his boyfriend nonetheless.

 

One second Hakyeon his enjoying the feel of Sanghyuk’s lips on his throat. The next there’s a gasp from the door and he’s on the floor.

“Oh, my god.”

Hakyeon looks towards the door and sees not one, not two, but four teenage boys. Their eyes flash between Sanghyuk, who had become shirtless many minutes ago, and Hakyeon, who was only wearing his underwear and a t-shirt. It was pretty hard to mistake what had been going on.

One of the boys then squints at Hakyeon. “Wait, isn’t he that student teacher from a few years ago?”

“ _That’s_ what you’re worried about?” another one asks. “Since when was Hyuk _gay_?!”

“Wait, is this why you and Mari broke up?”

Suddenly there are millions of questions being asked. Sanghyuk doesn’t even try to answer them and Hakyeon is trying not to draw attention to himself still on the floor without pants.

“ _But since when was Hyuk gay?!_ ” the same guy from before asks.

“It’s not that big a deal,” another tells him.

One of the boys’ eyes flicker down to Hakyeon and he then decides it must be time to get embarrassed. He clears his throat and laughs.

“We should go,” he says.

“Yeah,” another winks. “Wouldn’t want Hyuk to miss out on scoring tonight.”

“This totally explains why he doesn’t hang out with us on weekends anymore.”

“You’re just jealous. He probably has more sex than all of us.”

“Let’s _go_.”

They start to file out of the room, only one of them says goodbye, but they continue to chat. The ‘s _ince when was Hyuk gay?’_ guy once again asks his question, but this time he gets hit for it.

“ _You’re_ probably why he didn’t tell us.”

 

“Sorry, Hakyeonie,” Sanghyuk says when they hear the front door close.

“It’s okay,” Hakyeon replies. It honestly wasn’t the most embarrassing moment of his love life, he’d had worse.

“Are you okay?” Hakyeon asks, climbing back into bed and pulling Sanghyuk down for cuddles. “You didn’t tell them already?”

“I’m okay. And no, I didn’t.”

“Can I ask why?”

Sanghyuk hides his face in Hakyeon’s throat and hugs him tighter. “I’m still confused...” he mumbles.

“Aw,” Hakyeon murmurs as he pulls his boyfriend even closer. “It’s okay to be confused.”

After several minutes of hugging and reassurance Sanghyuk clears his throat. Hakyeon already knows what’s coming and holds back a laugh.

“So, about what we’re doing on this holiday…”

“Not in a million years, Hyukkie. Let’s watch a movie.”

“That means ‘hand stuff’, right?”

Hakyeon pushes the younger man away with a laugh. “You’re impossible.”

Sanghyuk laughs as well and pulls Hakyeon back. “What do you want to watch?”


	14. Beyond Just Shyness

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is technically the last chapter, the next is the prologue and the rest are drabbles.

Year 2: Semester 2: Holidays Week 1 (week 15): Saturday  
Wonshik and Taekwoon are out the door at seven. The train would take three hours and the bus would take another half an hour so Wonshik was hoping that they’d arrive at his mum’s house around eleven.  
Taekwoon yawns as he walks, blindly following Wonshik through the streets to the train station, really only keeping up because he was holding onto the bottom of Wonshik’s shirt. He’d been slow to get going today, probably because they’d stayed up so late.  
They got seats on the train and settled down for a nap.

 

“What do you think of Emi?” sixteen year old Wonshik asks.  
“She’s cute,” Hongbin provides. “She also has a huge crush on you.”  
Wonshik laughs in embarrassment, he has a huge crush on Emi. “Just because you have a crush on me, doesn’t mean she does.”  
“I-I don’t have a crush on you!” Hongbin lies.  
He and Wonshik had already had a proper, serious conversation about this, so he’d been expecting the teasing sometime soon. He kind of had it coming because he’d given Wonshik a lot of shit about the last girl he’d been interested in. Besides, this is what friends did, they teased you about your crush.  
Wonshik sends his best friend a teasing grin. “Sorry dude, you won’t get anything from me,” he says, lying back on his bed.  
“I don’t want anything from you!”  
Yes, Wonshik is attractive. But Hongbin thinks that the reason he even started to think about Wonshik that way was because Wonshik accepted him for who he was. If he wanted to be truthful, he had three crushes, none of which would ever get anywhere.  
“I’m as straight as an arrow,” Wonshik laughs  
Hongbin crawls into his own bed with a grumble, accepting the teasing and hoping his little crush will move along soon. Maybe one day he’ll like someone who is also gay, that would be helpful.   
Wonshik is about to fall asleep when he hears Hongbin make his final comment on the matter.  
“Arrows bend, you know.”

 

Oh, how right Hongbin had been, Wonshik thinks when Taekwoon grabs his arm. The train was incredibly crowded. It usually got busy three stops before the station in Wonshik’s hometown. He’d forgotten that because it had been a while since he’d caught the train home.  
Wonshik and Taekwoon stand up and struggle to push through to the door so they can get off at the next stop.  
The two hands grasping Wonshik’s arm grew tighter as the doors opened and everybody flooded out of the train. Wonshik knew it wasn’t the crowd that caused his boyfriend to tense because they weren’t talking right now. No, Taekwoon’s stress was definitely caused by the fact that they only had a thirty minute bus ride until they reached Wonshik’s house.   
“It’s okay,” Wonshik says once they’re on the bus. “My family won’t make you talk.”  
Taekwoon nods tensely.  
Wonshik wants to elaborate on why so that his boyfriend can calm down, but the bus is pretty crowded and it wasn’t really an ‘in-public’ sort of conversation topic. Instead Wonshik links their hands. Taekwoon’s are a little sweaty but Wonshik doesn’t do anything but give it a squeeze.  
“I promise.”

A five year old answers the door. The screen door is still shut and Wonshik is glad the kid has a little sense at least.  
“There are two men at the door!” he screams.  
Wonshik’s mum appears next. “Don’t yell. Where did your mother go?”  
“I don’t know.”  
“Go find her then.”  
The kid gives Wonshik one more look before running away. Wonshik’s mum turns and unlocks the screen door.  
“Wonshik,” she greets, pulling him into a hug.   
“Who was that?” Wonshik questions.  
“That was Bono.”  
“Bono is two.”  
“Bono was two, three years ago when you last went to see him.”  
Wonshik doesn’t have to say anything about the sudden guilt trip because his mother has noticed Taekwoon, who has clamped down on Wonshik’s arm again.   
“I’ll introduce him inside,” Wonshik says before she can ask.   
She gives Taekwoon one more look and then leads them inside.  
Apparently there was a small family gathering occurring. Wonshik feels like it was planned around him coming home because everybody is waiting for him and surrounds him the second he’s inside.   
“Who’s this sexy man?” Wonshik’s perverted great-aunt asks, Wonshik reminds himself to keep her away from Taekwoon because she tends to grope. “What’s your name?”  
Taekwoon completely clamps up and Wonshik pats his hand. “This is my boyfriend, Taekwoon. He doesn’t talk, so don’t ask him to, please.”  
After that all questions are directed at Wonshik. Taekwoon watches on, wondering why exactly they dropped it just like that, nobody had ever done that before, let alone a group of people. Groups tended to be rowdy and stubborn.  
“Wonshik,” his mum says, “introduce Taekwoon to everyone.”  
“This is my aunt, Jo…” Wonshik gets around to everybody in the room. “And that over there is my little sister.”  
Wonshik motions to a girl, well woman, standing separately to the side of the room instead of huddled together with everybody else.  
“She doesn’t like being touched,” Wonshik explains, seeing the question on his face.  
It suddenly becomes clear to Taekwoon that that was probably why the family had dropped the issue of not talking, they knew two abused kids already and knew not to ask questions about some behaviours, especially the unintentional ones. 

Wonshik’s little sister is the reason that Wonshik had known that Taekwoon was more than just shy upon their first meeting. They’d been to a lot of counselling over the years and met a lot of kids who had been through the same thing and there was just something about not being able to talk that screamed trauma in Wonshik’s mind. Of course, it wasn’t until Taekwoon had told him himself that Wonshik had been sure.  
For a while Taekwoon simply sticks to Wonshik’s side, but at some point he disappears and Wonshik finds him playing soccer with Bono and two other kids.   
“He’s cute,” his sister says.  
“Yep.”  
“Was it his parents?”  
“Yep.”  
“Ah.”  
They lapse back into silence, just watching what everybody else is doing. An arm loops with his and Wonshik looks down at his sister in surprise.  
“Someone did this to me the other day and I didn’t smack them in the face.”   
The thing was, as long as she started it, touching was okay. If she hugged you, you could hug back. But just random touching out of nowhere? No. She had been improving for years though and Wonshik smiles proudly.  
“How’s your boyfriend?” he asks.  
“Awesome. His twenty fourth birthday is in two days if you want to come.”  
Wonshik is about to say that he is too old for her when he remembers that it was five years, the same as Sanghyuk and Hakyeon.  
“I’ll think about it. I’m supposed to go meet Taekwoon’s parents and we’re all going on a holiday after Sanghyuk graduates.”  
“Taekwoon still sees his parents?!” she asks, outraged.  
Wonshik pats her arm which is still looped with his and squeezing too hard. “No, his adoptive parents.”  
“Oh,” she mutters, loosening her grip on her brother. “Well, you’re on holidays now so you can take your time going to see them. You should stay here a while, mum misses you.”  
“That’s just the guilt kicking in again,” Wonshik mutters.   
“Stop,” his sister growls. “It’s not her fault.”  
He’d only half meant it. He loves his mother, he does. But he also couldn’t forgive her for not knowing that her two children were being abused for years.  
“Sorry,” Wonshik apologises.  
Taekwoon has been tackled and is on the ground with three kids sitting on him and a dog trying to lick his face. He’s smiling and Wonshik is relieved.  
“I don’t want to be a teacher anymore,” she announces suddenly.  
“What do you want to be then?”  
“I want to help kids that have been abused.”  
Wonshik nods. “When we were little kids you wanted to be a psychologist.”   
More accurately she wanted to be Dr. Phil. Wonshik on the other hand had had more realistic goals. He’d wanted to be a race car driver.

They don’t get to go to bed until late. After the extended family had left they’d had dinner, talked for a long time and finally been allowed to go to bed.  
“You never told me that Hongbin had had a crush on you,” Taekwoon mumbles.  
That had been the topic of conversation several times throughout the day, where is Hongbin? Wonshik’s answer had been ‘seeing his own boyfriend’s family’. Hongbin had very much been a part of the family since Wonshik had dragged him home in year nine when they’d first met.   
“I didn’t think it was important,” Wonshik replies, sliding into his old bed and pulling Taekwoon closer. “It was high school and I was obsessed with girls.”  
Taekwoon laughs a little and plants a kiss on Wonshik’s collarbone. “How long do you want to stay here?”  
Wonshik thinks about it. “No more than three days or I’ll go insane.”  
It was always hard living with family again when you’d been gone for a while. His sister, who had chosen to live in her university’s dorm instead of renting like him, had done nothing but fight with their mother during the winter holidays. Unfortunately for her, she was here all summer and Wonshik could just go home whenever he liked.  
“I like your family,” Taekwoon says.  
“Good. I hope you come with me to see them a lot.”  
“I will.”


	15. He's My Boyfriend

Year 2: Semester 2: Week 16-17ish (Summer Holidays)

“Taekwoon!” a woman exclaims when she opens the front door. “You didn’t tell us you were coming home.”

Taekwoon placates his adoptive mother by ducking in and kissing her cheek. “I just dropped by to grab some things.”

Taekwoon motions for the group to go in first and then he follows them in. His mum does a quick count around Hakyeon’s hug.

“You’ve got a new friend?” she calls as Taekwoon starts down the hallway

She and his dad had come for a visit during the winter holidays and had met Sanghyuk then. They’d been pretty surprised that Taekwoon had added another person to their group of friends.

“He’s my boyfriend, Wonshik,” Taekwoon says without stopping, he’s on a mission after all.

Wonshik turns bright red as every set of eyes turns in his direction. Hongbin is smirking, Jaehwan is openly laughing, Sanghyuk is sniggering behind his hand, and Hakyeon is nodding and waggling his eyebrows at Taekwoon’s mum.

“You have to stay for dinner now,” she says.

“We’re leaving,” Taekwoon replies.

“We’re going on a holiday,” Hakyeon explains. “We’ll visit properly on the way back.”

“No… I want to talk to Wonshik,” she grumbles.

Wonshik is pulled into a rather bone crushing hug by Taekwoon’s mum. Luckily Taekwoon saves him and starts for the door, dragging Wonshik with him.

They say a hurried goodbye, during which Wonshik properly introduces himself, to Taekwoon’s now pouty mother and follow him out the door. Hakyeon is the last to leave the house, giving another hug before he follows.

“So mean, Taekwoonie,” he says as they climb into their rented car, a black people-mover.

“It’s not like I’ll never see them again,” Taekwoon grumbles, pulling Wonshik down with him in the very back seats. Jaehwan and Hongbin put the seat back and crawl in.

“That’s what people say before their family dies in some horrible, unexpected accident.”

Three people hit Sanghyuk. Hard.

“ _Ow_! What? I’m just _saying_.”

The others continue to tease Taekwoon, but Wonshik can see the red on his cheeks. He lifts up Taekwoon’s hand and kisses it.

“Let’s visit properly next time.”

Taekwoon fights to keep the smile off his face but fails. “Okay.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> “I will not be continuing this series, I may drabble one day in the future just for fun. But no guarantees. I have a few ideas though…”  
> *One Year Later* Oh, how young and naïve I was. Please read the TWELVE drabbles before reading PART 3…(currently only available on AFF)


	16. Drabble 1 - In which Hongbin cops a feel. Twice.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please don’t take this drabble too seriously, I literally only wrote this one because I was bored and didn’t want the first drabble I posted to be smutty...

“Why are we even doing this?” Hongbin asks.

“Oh come on, this is going to be great,” Wonshik insists.

“We’re breaking into my mother’s room and filling her perfumes with water,” Hongbin hisses as they enter the bedroom.

In Wonshik’s right hand is a bottle of water, in his left is a zip-lock bag to tip perfume into and seal up. Hongbin doesn’t know why he’s going along with this. Probably because he’d had to listen to his parents be especially bigoted this week thanks to the news.

“We’re geniuses.”

“We’re _eighteen_. We’re too old to pull shit like this.”

Drunk Wonshik disagrees. He was only here because he’d called Hongbin to get picked up from a party that had quickly dissolved into chaos and police. After no small amount of begging Hongbin’s mum had agreed to pick up Wonshik from the party and even let him stay the night. The trade was that Hongbin show up at church for a month.

“You said her perfumes were too strong,” Wonshik says.

“I didn’t say we should sabotage them though!”

Wonshik rolls his eyes and begins his operation. Hongbin watches on in horror as Wonshik takes note of how full each perfume bottle is before tipping it out and then filling it with water. Some he fully empties, other’s he only dilutes.

“I am so dead,” Hongbin mutters to himself.

“You’ll be fine. It isn’t like they can hate you any _more_.”

Hongbin purses his lips at his drunken best friend. “Thanks for the support.”

“You know I’m here for you, bro.”

It takes way longer to empty the perfume bottles than Wonshik thought it would. Firstly, he was trying to get it into the bag without exposing it to the air and stinking out the room. And secondly, his coordination wasn’t exactly one hundred percent right now.

Hongbin has lived in this house his whole life, so when he hears a squeak he knows it’s from the stairs. In fact, it’s from the third stair from the bottom and it only ever happened when you were going _up._

“Mum’s coming,” Hongbin whispers urgently.

Wonshik throws him a panicked look and dumps the rest of the bottle into the bag. Hongbin snatches the bottle off of him and fastens the lid, hopefully she won’t notice if one bottle is empty.

Wonshik seals the bag quickly and Hongbin looks around the room in a panic. They had two options, in the closet where she might look but they would have lots of room, or under the bed where she wouldn’t look ever but they’d barely fit.

“Get under the bed,” Hongbin tells Wonshik.

They dive down under the bed, wiggling forward so that they’re completely covered by the doona covers. Nearly the second they get into place the bedroom door opens.

The boys hold their breath, waiting. First Hongbin’s mum goes to the closet and Hongbin congratulates himself on making the right choice. Then she spritzes herself with one of the perfumes and leaves the room.

“I’m going to the shops, Hongbin!” she calls.

 _So late at night?_ Hongbin questions to himself. 

“More like she’s off to see the side man.”

Hongbin wants to deny it, but it was probably true. She tended to disappear at weird times, sometimes without a word, and Hongbin hadn’t been able to come up with a better reason.

It’s then that Hongbin realises his arm is going numb. His shoulder is twisted uncomfortably and prickling a little, forcing his chest into the floor. When Hongbin tries to pull his arm up Wonshik flinches. It’s like his whole body loses contact with the floor in his surprise and his head collides with the wooden slats.

“Ow...” Wonshik groans.

It takes Hongbin a second to figure out what happened, and when he does his whole face lights up. Wonshik curses and crawls out from underneath the bed, rubbing the back of his head as he does.

“Sorry, Wonshik,” Hongbin apologises, crawling out after him.

Wonshik gives Hongbin a teasing grin. “Just because you’re over your crush on me doesn’t mean you suddenly get to feel me up.”

“I... Sorry.”

“Don’t worry about it too much. It’s the most action I’ve gotten for a few months actually.”

Hongbin groans. “Stop telling me about how horrible your sex life has been, Wonshik. At least you _have_ a sex life.”

“People have been trying to set you up with that guy at school for ages,” Wonshik points out. “Want me to tell them you’re in?”

Hongbin considers it. He’d only just gotten over a two year crush on Wonshik, dating someone might make sure those feelings didn’t come back. Also the thought of possibly one day having sex was pretty damn appealing.

“Yeah, alright.”

Wonshik grins at him lecherously. “You nasty.”

Wonshik’s face heats again. “Shut up. Fill the bottle and let’s go. This so wasn’t worth all the trouble.”

Drunk Wingman Wonshik disagrees.

 

 

“I’m really sorry, Taekwoon,” Hongbin apologises for the tenth time as they enter the apartment.

The blush is still high on Taekwoon’s cheeks. “Just forget it.”

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine.”

“I just–”

“Hongbin,” Taekwoon warns, he’s been trying so hard not to let this get to him and Hongbin is making it difficult.

It had happened fifteen minutes ago at the train station. They were coming back from an outing Hongbin had wanted to go on to take pictures and build his portfolio, so they were carrying a lot of equipment. The elevator had seemed like a good idea instead of three flights of stairs.

What the result had been was the elevator being really packed and Hongbin losing his balance. In his attempt to right himself with no hands he’d practically ground up against the older man. Nearly everybody got off at the floor before theirs and Hongbin had been able to stand up. At this point he was not embarrassed, Taekwoon also seemed unembarrassed.

What had gotten them red faced and avoiding eye contact was when they were getting off the elevator. The door opened, Taekwoon started to exit. Hongbin, following closely behind, trips over one of the straps from his bag and stumbles forward.

Abandoning his bags Hongbin had grabbed onto Taekwoon like there was no tomorrow, resulting in Taekwoon lying face down on the floor and Hongbin lying on his back. Both of them had their hands trapped underneath Taekwoon’s pelvis.

Maybe they could have played it off if it had just been them there, but no. A lot of people had been waiting to get on the elevator. It was a bigger deal to Taekwoon than he would ever admit. He was incredibly uncomfortable with the thought of other people touching him in _that_ way, unless it was Wonshik, of course. Even though it was an accident, Taekwoon knows he’s going to need a little while to get over what had happened.

“What’s happened?” Wonshik asks.

Both of them turn a brilliant red and Taekwoon drops the bags, choosing to go to Wonshik for cuddles instead of answer the question.

Wonshik is surprised by the clinginess, not that it was new, but wraps up Taekwoon in an embrace. His eyes land on Hongbin who had been trying to sneak away unnoticed. The unusual behaviour is noted and Wonshik’s ‘boyfriend mode’ is activated. Hongbin liked to call it ‘overprotective arsehole mode’, but whatever, he’d seen it several times before in high school.

“What did you do?” Wonshik demands.

“I accidentally groped Taekwoon.”

“‘Accidentally’?” Wonshik questions, tightening his grip on Taekwoon.

“I fell.”

“You ‘fell’?”

“Wonshik,” Taekwoon mutters, he doesn’t like ‘boyfriend mode’ either. He’d only seen it once before when a girl had been flirting outrageously with him in the coffee shop.

Wonshik narrows his eyes at Hongbin. He knows Hongbin would never actually grope Taekwoon on purpose, that wasn’t why he was upset. He was upset because Taekwoon was upset.

Taekwoon had once tried to explain it to Wonshik and then given up halfway. He’d said that he was okay with the thought of other people having sex, but the thought of he himself having sex or people talking about him having sex made him incredibly uncomfortable. Touching from other people was a definite no and sometimes took him a bit to get over the discomfort.

Once Taekwoon had started trying to explain how it was all okay with Wonshik he’d given up, saying that he didn’t really get it either. All in all Wonshik didn’t really understand. To him it had meant that only he was allowed to touch Taekwoon.

Now, hearing what had happened, all that Wonshik could hear in his head was Taekwoon trying to explain how people touching him made him uncomfortable and his protectiveness flared up.

“I said sorry,” Hongbin mutters.

Taekwoon nods and Wonshik believes him, backing down. Both Taekwoon and Hongbin decide that they’ll just never mention the grinding incident. Ever. Or Hongbin might die.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wonshik would never actually hurt Hongbin. Also, ‘boyfriend mode’ is a joke. ‘Tis a drabble.  
> Is Hongbin making his way through the group? Who’s next? Is it Sanghyuk? I’m fairly certain Jaehwan gets enough groping from Hongbin... Is it Hakyeon then? Who knows... I don’t.  
> I’m not 100% sure when this drabble happens. I think it might be before they go on holidays, maybe around week 13. It’s definitely not after the New Year.


	17. Drabble 2 - In which Sanghyuk displays himself to the world.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one takes place halfway through their two-week holiday.  
> (Bathers = swimwear, btw)  
> Warning: semi-smut

Hakyeon can’t keep his eyes off of Sanghyuk who is wandering around in only a spa towel looking for his bathers. The towel is probably a bit too short to be worn around the hips.

“Would you stop fucking him with your eyes?” Wonshik asks.

Beside him Taekwoon chokes on the water he’d been sipping. Sanghyuk turns a worried eye in their direction at the coughing and then runs over, towel flying up in all directions.

Hakyeon’s face is bright red and he draws his knees up to his chest but doesn’t look away from his boyfriend’s body.

“Are you okay?” Sanghyuk asks, pounding Taekwoon on the back.

Wonshik, who has seen something he didn’t ever want to see, closes his eyes and leans back into his chair, emitting something between a whimper and a sob.

“Go put some clothes on,” he says to Sanghyuk.

Taekwoon, who is still choking, waves Sanghyuk away and nods in agreement with Wonshik. Sanghyuk looks down at himself and seems to remember that he’s practically naked. Instead of being embarrassed, or having any modesty like a normal person, Sanghyuk strikes a pose.

“Oh my god,” Wonshik mutters.

Sanghyuk probably didn’t realise that any sort of leg spreading put _everything_ on display. Hakyeon raises his eyebrows and bites his lips, he needs to stop staring.

 _Be strong, Hakyeon_ , he tells himself.

Taekwoon has apparently had enough. He stands up, dragging Wonshik with him, and then heads for the door.

“We’ll meet you at the pool,” Wonshik tells Hakyeon while shaking his head. “Don’t take too long.”

“What?” Sanghyuk asks, legitimately not knowing what he’d done wrong.

“Don’t worry about it, Hyukkie, just find your bathers.”

Sanghyuk pouts and goes back to his search while Hakyeon forces himself to think of horror movies and math.

 

“I wish we’d gotten separate units,” Jaehwan is saying when Taekwoon and Wonshik arrive at the pool.

“We got what we could afford,” Hongbin tells him but totally agrees.

The unit they got gotten had three bedrooms, two bathrooms, a kitchen, and a lounge room. It was nice, but the bedrooms were too close together for the unit to be comfortably lived in by three couples with active sex lives.

Taekwoon had been refusing to have sex since they’d gotten here after he and Wonshik had overheard both Sanghyuk and Hakyeon _and_ Jaehwan and Hongbin on the first night. Wonshik had accepted after that that sex was just something that was not going to happen until they got home next week and had some privacy.

“Are they still mucking around in there?” Hongbin asks Wonshik.

Wonshik passes Taekwoon the sunscreen, wanting his back done. “Sanghyuk can’t find his bathers.”

“They probably just wanted to be alone,” Hongbin rolls his eyes.

“I don’t think they have an issue with not being alone,” Jaehwan mutters.

“Do we have to talk about this?” Wonshik asks, spreading sunscreen over Taekwoon’s back.

Luckily Hakyeon and Sanghyuk get to the pool then, effectively making it so they couldn’t be talked about anyway.

The resort they were staying at was great. It had a number of indoor and outdoor activities, it was close to the grocery store and a number of places to eat, and it wasn’t overly expensive.

Mostly they spent the days lounging around longing for internet access, but they also spent a lot of time distracting Sanghyuk from worrying about his exam results. He wanted to go to their university and study education like Hakyeon had, except he wanted to do math where Hakyeon had done English. He needed a score of sixty-two to be guaranteed a place and he was stressed over it because apparently he’d screwed up something on the English exam.

“You can always take a gap year,” Wonshik tells him when they go on a grocery run.

“I don’t want to,” Sanghyuk mutters.

“Why not? Hakyeon and Taekwoon did.”

Sanghyuk’s cheeks heat a little and he avoids Wonshik’s questioning gaze. “But then I’d be holding Hakyeonie back even more...”

Wonshik stops in his tracks, yanking the trolley to a standstill. “Holding him back? What do you mean?”

“Well, Hakyeonie took a gap year and then did four years of university... I can’t make him wait around for me as I take a gap year and then do four years of university.”

Wonshik jabs him in the ribs. “Idiot, Hakyeon isn’t going to leave because you’re still a student. So what if he wants to wait for you?”

Sanghyuk purses his lips. “It seems unfair. Hakyeonie will be twenty-seven and _still_ waiting around for his boyfriend to graduate.”

Wonshik holds back from rolling his eyes. “Hakyeon won’t care.”

Sanghyuk finally meets Wonshik’s eyes and the older man finally sees how worried about this Sanghyuk is.

“Maybe you should talk to Hakyeon about this,” he says. “He’s just going to tell you you’re being stupid.”

 

“Hyukkie,” Hakyeon grins at him when they return from shopping. “Guess what happened?”

“What?” Sanghyuk asks, enjoying Hakyeon’s excitement.

“I went to check my emails at the office and one of them was a job offer!”

“That’s great!” Sanghyuk grins. “Where’s it for?”

“A school about an hour and a half from home! That’s so awesome! I thought I’d done well during the interview so I’m really happy. Besides an hour and a half isn’t that bad of a commute.”

Sanghyuk doesn’t think it’s very awesome. Wouldn’t it be easier if Hakyeon just moved closer to the school? He looks over at Wonshik who points at Hakyeon and then smiles. _Be happy for him_.

Sanghyuk pulls Hakyeon into a tight hug. “I’m really glad for you.”

He is, he really is. But that thought in the back of his head has started to spin around. _You’re a burden to him._ It sticks around for the rest of the day.

 

“What’s wrong, Sanghyukkie?” Hakyeon asks when they’re finally alone in their room.

“Nothing,” the younger man says, lying down on their bed.

“Are you sure?” Hakyeon worries, resting his chin on Sanghyuk’s chest.

Sanghyuk is going to once again blow it off, but he thinks of Wonshik encouraging him to talk to Hakyeon. Then he sees Hakyeon’s frown and it makes up his mind for him.

“Do you think I’m a burden?” he blurts.

Hakyeon lifts his head so he can get a better look at his boyfriend. “What? _No_. Of course not. Why would you even think that?”

“I just... It’s just that you’ve graduated and you’ve got job offers and _I_ haven’t even gotten _into_ university yet. Wouldn’t it be easier if you just moved to wherever the job was?”

“You’re being stupid. Just because it would be easier doesn’t mean it would be better.”

“But you’re not going to hang around because of me, right?” Sanghyuk asks. “If you need to move closer to work, you would right?”

Hakyeon sighs sadly. “I’m not living in a fantasy world where relationships last forever. We could break up. I’m not saying we will, but we could. Until that day I want to be as close to you as possible. If that means travelling for an hour and a half to and from work, then so be it.”

Sanghyuk doesn’t comment on that. He doesn’t even want to think about breaking up. It feels like they’d just started going out. What could possibly make them break up anyway?

“I love you,” Hakyeon tells Sanghyuk.

“I love you more.”

“I doubt it.”

“You want to test it?”

“Maybe I do.”

 

 

Hakyeon’s breathing was heavy, and really he couldn’t be blamed for it. One of his hands was on Sanghyuk’s thigh while the other pumped his own dick. His legs were on either side of Sanghyuk’s torso, and his whole body was covered in a sheen of sweat from lowering himself over and over again.

Sanghyuk watches with lust clouded eyes as his boyfriend pants above him. From here he can see everything and he thinks that’s probably why Hakyeon had chosen this position. Unable to help himself he thrusts up as Hakyeon comes down.

The whimper that is torn from Hakyeon’s lips makes his body feel even hotter, if that were possible. It drives him wild. His boyfriend drives him wild.

Sanghyuk flips them easily, pulling Hakyeon’s legs up and pushing in deeper. He sets the pace harder and faster than what Hakyeon could achieve before, driving into him in a way that had Hakyeon moaning and panting and crying out.

It had taken Hakyeon a while to convince Sanghyuk that he really did like it rough. Sanghyuk liked it too, but he was a little worried about hurting Hakyeon. To placate him Hakyeon had promised to tell him if they ever got too rough. Sex when Sanghyuk bottomed was a lot different. It was slower and Hakyeon’s focus was completely on Sanghyuk’s pleasure instead of his own. But right now it was all about Hakyeon.

“Hyukkie!” Hakyeon cries after a particularly hard thrust.

Sanghyuk aims for the same spot, thrusting into Hakyeon again and again, feeling him clench around his dick. His own orgasm is close, but he wants Hakyeon to come first. Hakyeon is practically sobbing when Sanghyuk wraps his hand around his dick and pumps it quickly.

Hakyeon’s whole body tenses as he comes, moaning wantonly and muttering Sanghyuk’s name. Sanghyuk can’t stand how tight Hakyeon has become. It takes only a few more thrusts before he too is coming.

“Hakyeonie,” he moans, slowly pushing into Hakyeon a few more times before pulling out completely.

Sanghyuk collapses forward, rolling onto his side to pant next to his boyfriend. He loved watching Hakyeon after sex, the way his body would continue to twitch as he recovered and the way his breath slowly evened out.

“Are you okay, Hakyeonie?” Sanghyuk asks, recovering first.

“Mmm,” Hakyeon purrs.

He finally opens his eyes to meet Sanghyuk’s gaze, pressing closer so he can capture Sanghyuk’s lips in a slow but still heated kiss.

“I love you,” Hakyeon says softly.

Sanghyuk pecks Hakyeon’s lips in return. “I love you.”

 

“Would you guys keep it down at night?” Jaehwan complains the next morning.

Both Sanghyuk and Hakyeon blush as they set their breakfast on the table. Taekwoon’s cheeks also heat, unable to meet Hakyeon’s eye.

“We’re not that loud are we?” Hakyeon asks, looking at his friends with a frown.

Taekwoon nods a little and Hongbin nods a whole lot.

“I thought we _were_ being quiet,” Sanghyuk says.

“Well you weren’t,” Jaehwan grumbles.

Hakyeon clears his voice and finally sits down. “We’ll be quieter from now on.”

“Good.”


	18. Drabble 3 - In which jealousy calls the shots.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a short, kind of smutty drabble about Taekwoon getting Jealous. Just after their holiday, I’m guessing.  
> Warning: semi-smut

Taekwoon can’t believe he’s jealous. He knows that Wonshik wasn’t the kind to cheat and so has nothing to worry about. But watching the girl who is sitting across from Wonshik openly flirt with _his_ boyfriend has Taekwoon’s jealousy rearing its ugly head. Worst of all Wonshik appears to be going along with it, laughing and chatting like there’s no tomorrow.

Taekwoon forces himself to concentrate on the coffee he’s making, he’d already screwed up two and he couldn’t get away with a third. Taekwoon focuses on his job and leaves Wonshik to his studying, not allowing himself to even look away from the coffee machine unless there was a lull in customers.

“You’ve been giving that girl with Wonshikkie a death glare all night,” Hakyeon whispers. “Did something happen?”

Taekwoon shakes his head, pretending he had no idea what Hakyeon was talking about. Hakyeon, who has never seen Taekwoon jealous before, hides a smile and returns to work.

 

Wonshik’s study partner is the last customer to leave, only doing so when Hakyeon tells her that they’re closing. She flashes Wonshik a huge smile, even going as far was to run the tips of her fingers down his arm. Taekwoon watches on with narrowed eyes as Wonshik grins at her before beginning to put his stuff away. They laugh at something, shaking their heads, and then, to Taekwoon’s utter horror, Wonshik kisses her cheek.

Up until this point Taekwoon had been on the angry side of jealousy, well, more annoyed than angry. But now, seeing this, made his heart ache.

It had become their routine on Tuesdays that Wonshik would help them clean up the shop, putting chairs on tables and sweeping while Hakyeon dealt with the dishes and Taekwoon cleaned the coffee machine and counter. Until the new semester started Wonshik only had his music class and a few shifts at work to keep him busy so he’d volunteered.

Taekwoon can’t bring himself to meet Wonshik’s eyes as they begin cleaning, nor can he think of how to bring up the issue. Did he _need_ to bring it up? _Was_ there an actual issue?

“That girl you were with is pretty,” Hakyeon notes, passing Wonshik the broom as he heads towards the stairs.

“She’s really cute,” Wonshik calls after him. “Always has been.”

 _Always has been?!_ Taekwoon asks to himself. How long had Wonshik known this woman? Has he been seeing her since long before he knew Taekwoon?

Taekwoon isn’t completely aware he’d begun approaching Wonshik until he’s tugged Wonshik into a rough kiss. Wonshik is incredibly surprised by the suddenness, gasping into the kiss but not pulling away.

When the kiss ends Taekwoon begins to pull him towards the door. Wonshik wants to see where this is going, and that is probably the only reason he says nothing and follows Taekwoon.

 

Once they’re in the door Wonshik starts leading Taekwoon towards the bedroom. To his surprise though, he’s the one that is pushed down on it.

Taekwoon crawls towards him, looking like a predator as he does so, taking no time to remove Wonshik’s shoes and pants. They strip each other between desperate kisses, tossing the articles of clothing in whichever direction was the easiest. 

 

Taekwoon took him deeper than he usually did and Wonshik practically whimpered. His fingers, which had been clenching the doona cover, move up to tangle in Taekwoon’s hair, to keep him in place almost.

Wonshik doesn’t know why, but Taekwoon taking charge is a massive turn on. Usually he was okay with going along with what Wonshik wanted, but every now and then a switch was flicked and Taekwoon was the one calling the shots. He was curious to know the reason behind today’s sudden change, but at the same time he was too excited to start questioning him.

“Ah,” Wonshik gasps when Taekwoon bends his fingers.

The combination of Taekwoon’s fingers and mouth almost has Wonshik coming then and there. Or he would have if Taekwoon hadn’t suddenly ceased all contact. Wonshik whines, panting a little as his whole body feels the disappointment. He’d been so close...

Taekwoon kisses his way up Wonshik’s quivering body, briefly pausing to lick and suck on his nipples before bringing their lips together in a desperate kiss.

“Stop teasing,” Wonshik mutters when the kiss breaks.

Taekwoon obliges, pushing Wonshik’s legs apart and slowly pressing in. Wonshik’s back arches and his legs wrap around Taekwoon in an attempt to get even closer. Taekwoon is practically holding his breath while he waits for Wonshik to adjust, he knew he appreciated it when Wonshik gave him time.

Wonshik drags Taekwoon’s lips down, capturing him in a kiss that is too sweet and chaste for the situation. It doesn’t stay that way for long, morphing into one with nothing but tongue and teeth and saliva as Taekwoon begins to rock into Wonshik.

 

The slow pace they usually started in doesn’t last long, it never does. It quickly becomes more frantic as they both speed towards their climax. Taekwoon was nearly always the first to come. Not today though. Wonshik can barely keep his eyes open, feeling a little overwhelmed by the pleasure.

“Look at me,” Taekwoon practically purrs just as Wonshik closes his eyes.

Wonshik’s eyes flash open again to focus on his boyfriend. Seeing Taekwoon above him, sweat gathering on his chest and cheeks flushed from arousal, is probably one of the most arousing things Wonshik has ever seen in his life. Taekwoon’s eyes are locked on Wonshik’s face, none of his usual embarrassment like when their role is reversed. Wonshik thinks it’s that little detail that sends him over the edge. Taekwoon comes almost directly after.

 

“So,” Wonshik begins when he finally recovers his breath. “What was this about?”

Taekwoon, who had clung to Wonshik during and after his orgasm, finally rolls away. His cheeks burn bright red and his eyes flicker over to meet Wonshik’s before darting away again.

“...That girl,” he finally admits.

Wonshik frowns. “My cousin? What about her?”

Taekwoon sits up a little, surprised. “Your cousin?”

Wonshik also sits up. “Yeah, she’s my cousin. You met her when you came to see my family.”

Frankly Taekwoon didn’t really remember that much of the event, he’d been a bit overwhelmed at the time. Instead of saying that he frowns.

“Why were you flirting with her then?”

Wonshik laughs, finally finding the misunderstanding and the reason for Taekwoon’s behaviour. He continues to laugh for quite a while before Taekwoon starts to get grumpy at being left in the dark.

“She has to write something for one of her classes about body language. She doesn’t really have any guy friends she was comfortable asking."

“...I thought that... you were...” Taekwoon trails off.

Wonshik laughs again. “I wasn’t flirting with her. Or I was. But only because she told me to hit on her like I would if we were in a bar. It was really weird though; she decided to just go to a bar and people watch.”

Taekwoon’s cheeks, which had just started to return to normal, flare up again. Wonshik reaches over to thread his fingers into Taekwoon’s hair and then kisses him.

“I’m flattered that you got jealous.”

“I didn’t get jealous,” Taekwoon denies.

“Mmhm,” Wonshik murmurs into another kiss.

Before Taekwoon can argue back Wonshik has pushed him onto his back. More than flattered by Taekwoon’s jealousy, Wonshik was a little turned on by it. Yes, they’d just had sex, but that certainly wouldn’t stop him.


	19. Drabble 4, Part 1 - In which Hakyeon becomes a hero.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A drabble about Hakyeon and Taekwoon’s past. The baby talk is very much how my cousin spoke when he was three, he used to say things like ‘What’s with dinner’ and repeat half the sentence. I’m so glad he’s easier to understand now.
> 
> (The ages are Taekwoon’s, btw. LONG explanation about preschool terminology at the end if you’re confused about why they’re 3 and in kindergarten.)

3 years old (kinder)

“We’ve got someone new joining us today,” the teacher says softly to the class.

Hakyeon pushes to the front of the group so that he can see.

“This is Taekwoon, he doesn’t like hugs and rough play so be careful. Okay?”

“Yes,” the whole class chimes.

Hakyeon’s first impression of Taekwoon is that he’s small. Until now Hakyeon had been the smallest in the group, but now that Taekwoon was here he wasn’t. Maybe he looked smaller because he was a little hunched in on himself, maybe he wanted to look smaller?

“It’s recess time now, everyone go and show Taekwoon how you get your snacks from your bags.”

“Yes!”

Taekwoon watches with wide, scared eyes for the rest of the day. He doesn’t play, even though some of the kids offer, and he stays as far away from the teachers as possible. He spends the day with his back to the wall on the far side of the room.

Later, at pick up time, the teacher lets the kids continue to play while she talks to the parents. Hakyeon clings to his mother’s leg, trying to pull the attention away from his older brother.

He overhears what the teacher says but it doesn’t make any sense to him. He knew it was about Taekwoon though.

“Mum,” he says as he’s getting strapped into his car seat.

She smiles at him, clicking the last strap into place before helping her other son into the car. “What?”

“Tae-Tae... Woon. What wrong for Woon?”

“Hmm, Taekwoon’s parents were really mean to him. He has new parents now, but grownups are still scary for him.”

“Why?”

“He’s scared of grownups like you’re scared on the needle lady.”

 _Because they hurt him?_ Hakyeon wonders.

“Why?”

His mum sighs, looking between her kids. “He just is. You make sure you’re really nice to him, okay?”

Hakyeon nods. “Okay.”

 

Hakyeon stands a little further away from Taekwoon than he would with the other kids. A little bit because Taekwoon was weird and he was a little afraid, but also because Taekwoon looked horrified at being approached in his little corner of the room. It was where he sat every day, with only crayons to draw with.

Hakyeon holds up his favourite action figure. It was actually for ages four and up but his brother had given it to him after growing out of superheroes and his parents had never taken it away from him. It was a little worn, a little battered, but it had certainly been loved.

“You play,” Hakyeon says, still offering the toy.

Taekwoon simply stares.

Hakyeon comes a little closer, smiling. “He saves you from the, from the bad guys.”

Taekwoon’s eyes light up and he slowly reaches out to take the toy, as if he’s expecting Hakyeon to pull it away and tease him. Hakyeon sees the tiniest of smiles on Taekwoon’s lips and feels his own smile grow.

 

“Where’s the toy you took?” Hakyeon’s mum asks, only noticing now that it was missing.

“Woon,” Hakyeon answers.

She frowns, did the boy steal it? No, if he had Hakyeon would be throwing a tantrum like he did when his brothers and sister took his toys.

“Did he borrow it?”

“Yes.”

Well, if Hakyeon wanted to let the other boy borrow it that was okay, there wasn’t much she could do now anyway.

 

“What’s that, Taekwoon?” his foster mum asks when she comes to pick him up.

He’d only been with them for four months and wasn’t completely comfortable yet. He was a tiny bit closer with his foster sister but even then he was distant. They were worried, about his social development, as well as his muteness and a score of other things they were hoping time and patience would help with.

Taekwoon holds the toy up as his answer.

“Whose is it?”

There isn’t any point asking but she still does because they’ve been told to encourage any communication Taekwoon offers.

“That’s Hakyeon’s toy,” the teacher informs her. “He let Taekwoon borrow it.”

“Ah, that’s nice, isn’t it, Taekwoon?” his foster mum says. “Make sure he knows you’re thankful.”

As always Taekwoon wakes up from his nightmare but this time his right hand clamps down on the action figure he’d brought to bed. It wasn’t really good for sleeping with since it was hard, but it hadn’t bothered Taekwoon too much. He had a million stuffed animals but none of them had ever felt like they were protecting him before, for the first time in a long time Taekwoon actually falls back to sleep, dreaming of the superhero that was saving him from the bad guys.

 

 

4 years old (kinder)

“Woonie,” Hakyeon calls when Taekwoon is dropped off.

Taekwoon glances at Hakyeon but then looks back at his foster mother. She smiles warmly at him and hands him his lunch box.

“Make sure you eat the fruit, okay?”

Taekwoon doesn’t acknowledge her words but she knows that he’s listening. After one more ‘have a good day’ she leaves and Taekwoon goes to Hakyeon.

“Look, I got a new hero!” the older boy grins.

Hakyeon offers the action figure to Taekwoon who takes it silently. He likes hero toys to a slightly obsessive degree and Hakyeon was always willing to share his seemingly endless supply of them. But it didn’t matter how many shiny, new action figures he brought in, Taekwoon’s favourite was the old ratty one.

Hakyeon had let Taekwoon borrow it for weeks at a time sometimes. He liked that one too, but it was the only toy he’d ever seen Taekwoon actually cherish so he didn’t mind letting him borrow it. Hakyeon holds up the old hero and offers it out as he always did.

“I like the new one. You have this one.”

Taekwoon willingly swaps and they begin the game they always play. They have to save people who are in trouble and Hakyeon narrates the story nonstop, always coming up with something new and making sure that Taekwoon is having fun too.

 

“Can Woonie come over?” Hakyeon asks one night after a bath.

He’s supposed to be getting ready for bed and reading his book, but his mum was giving the room a quick clean. The idea of Taekwoon coming over had come from Hakyeon hearing some of the other kids talking about play dates. He wanted to see Taekwoon outside of kinder too. After all, they’d been friends for a year now.

“Maybe you should go to Taekwoon’s house.”

“Why?”

“He’ll be more comfortable there. He’ll be nervous if he comes here and won’t want to play.”

“Why?”

“He doesn’t know me very well and he’s never met dad, he’ll get scared.”

“Of dad?”

“And me too, probably.”

“Why is Woonie scared of grownups?”

“Do you remember what I told you last year?”

Hakyeon nods.

“Taekwoon’s parents used to hurt him a lot, okay? So now, he doesn’t like people touching him much and he doesn’t talk, right?”

Hakyeon nods. The most contact he’d ever had with Taekwoon was holding his hand, and that was because Taekwoon had grabbed his during parent’s day.

“He also gets scared when he meets new people.”

“I know,” he’d seen it happen at the beginning of the year when their class had gotten shuffled up a bit. Taekwoon had freaked out and missed the next two weeks of kindergarten. Hakyeon hadn’t known what that had meant, of course, he’d just thought Taekwoon was sick.

“So if he comes here he has to meet new people. You can just go to his house and he’ll feel better.”

Hakyeon still only half gets it. “Okay.”

“Okay,” his mum sighs. “Time for bed, mister. What are we reading tonight?”

 

Hakyeon is so excited to go to Taekwoon’s house. He doesn’t have kinder today so his mum and Taekwoon’s mum had planned for them to spend the day together.

Taekwoon’s mum shows Hakyeon to Taekwoon’s room.

“Taekwoon,” she says softly from the door.

Taekwoon doesn’t respond, he’s busy drawing. He really liked drawing. Almost as much as he liked playing superhero with Hakyeon but nowhere near as much as he loved Hakyeon’s old action figure.

“Hakyeon is here.”

Taekwoon’s head snaps up and falls on Hakyeon who grins and waves. “Woonie! I came to play!”

They’re left alone after that and Hakyeon pulls some superheroes from his bag. He sets them on Taekwoon’s bed and then turns to smile at Taekwoon, holding his favourite.

“You can have this one. It’s yours now.”

Hakyeon holds out the action figure and Taekwoon slowly walks over and takes it. Hakyeon had to be lying, right?

“Can I?” he asks.

His voice is so tiny but Hakyeon hears it clearly, he’d been waiting for this day. The most Taekwoon had ever done was nod or shake his head. One time he’d seen Taekwoon screaming when he’d been picked up by one of the teachers, but other than that Taekwoon was always silent. From what Hakyeon heard from his mum Taekwoon had never even spoken to his foster family.

A giant grin spreads over Hakyeon’s face. “Of course. He’ll keep you safe from now on when I’m not around.”

Taekwoon nods, the hero always did. “Thank you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, where I live ‘kindergarten’ is used as another term for preschool (3yo and 4yo groups) and the first year of primary school is called preparatory (or just ‘prep’ really) and you start at age 4 or 5 depending on when your birthday is (If you go one state up from where I live it’s all called something else and if you go left one state it has different terminology again!). For example, I’m born in September so I started school when I was five, but my brother was born in March so he started when he was four.   
> (Basically what Americans (and NSWers and Tassies) call ‘kindergarten’ is what I call ‘prep’ and following that is grades 1-6 and then years 7-12 are high school.)
> 
> Some kids stay in crèche(day-care) until they’re four and then start kinder, some kids who are naughty and don’t want to take naps and constantly cause trouble for the carers and throw tantrums (*clears throat*me), start when they’re three. Other kids never attend any sort of pre-education and they’re the kids that cry on the first day of prep.


	20. Drabble 4, Part 2 - In which Taekwoon learns to cope.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A continuation of the previous drabble.

**This is a continuation of the previous chapter, obviously.**

 

Drabble 4, Part 2 – In which Taekwoon learns to cope.

 

8 years old

“I don’t want to.”

“It’s just for a little while.”

“I don’t want to.”

Hakyeon wants to play on the playground but Taekwoon always sat in the shade and read or drew. Taekwoon would have played on the playground but the other kids were really loud and tended to play rough.

“I’ll go alone then.”

“Go then.”

He does. Hakyeon leaves Taekwoon and goes to play on the playground. It isn’t as much fun as he built it up to be in his head. He was friends with other kids that liked to play on the playground, but Taekwoon wouldn’t play with them.

After only ten minutes Hakyeon is worried about Taekwoon. School is different to kindergarten, they’d figured that out a long time ago. Most kids were older than them and bigger, and there weren’t as many teachers watching all the time.

Hakyeon sprints to the shade area and isn’t surprised to see Taekwoon being bullied by two kids that were probably two years older. It certainly wasn’t the first time Taekwoon had been bullied, it wouldn’t be the last either. Hakyeon recognises the two bullies instantly.

“You’re a freak,” the taller one sneers.

“Your drawings are weird,” the other laughs.

The first kid picks up Taekwoon’s drawings and starts ripping them. Hakyeon, who has seen Taekwoon slowly perfecting those drawings all week, sees red. He charges forward, arms out and ready for the impact. The force pushes both of the older kids to the floor, and Hakyeon has no qualms about getting in a couple of good kicks before fingers on his arm draw him back.

“Are you okay, Woonie?” Hakyeon asks.

Taekwoon nods as the two kids stand up. They run for the teacher who is on yard duty with barely a look at Hakyeon.

“They picked on me last year,” Hakyeon notes.

Taekwoon remembers, Hakyeon had beaten them up then too. Hakyeon gets two weeks of detention and Taekwoon spends the whole time with him because the teachers didn’t have the heart to say no.

 

10 years old

Hakyeon has seen Taekwoon have anxiety attacks before, but he’d never seen one this bad or random. He supposes it wasn’t random for Taekwoon. His parents had explained over and over how to help Taekwoon when he needed it.

Taekwoon is sitting in the corner of the classroom, hyperventilating as the teacher moves all of the other kids out of the room. Hakyeon sits down beside him.

“You ever hear of a panic square?” he asks calmly. “Draw a square on your leg. As you draw the ‘up’ stroke you breathe in. Then you draw across and you hold your breath. And when you draw down and the next across you breathe out. Let’s try it, okay?”

Hakyeon does the first two squares alone, tracing his leg in a way that Taekwoon can see and breathing deeply. On the third square Taekwoon moves a shaky hand to his leg. At first he can’t breathe in for that long, but eventually after concentrating on it for a while, he can.

Hakyeon smiles when Taekwoon’s breathing begins to even out. “Good. Let’s do it a few more times.”

They do and Taekwoon is relieved to feel his heart slowing down the longer they do it. Finally it’s over and Hakyeon goes out to tell the teacher that Taekwoon needs to go home now.

From then on the panic square is what Hakyeon would suggest whenever he was with Taekwoon while he had an anxiety attack.

 

12 years old

“You two are always together, aren’t you?” Lana asks.

She was in their class and Hakyeon really liked her. He hadn’t really had much of a chance to talk to her yet because Taekwoon had had a little trouble adjusting to high school and that was what had held his attention for the last month and a half.

Lana’s group of friends was standing a little bit behind but they were definitely in earshot.

Hakyeon smiles at her. “Of course.”

She smiles back. “Can I hang out with you sometimes?”

“Oooh,” her friends murmur teasingly.

Hakyeon feels his cheeks redden but he ignores it. “Sure. That’s okay, isn’t it, Woonie?”

Taekwoon meets Hakyeon’s eyes and then looks at the girl again. He feels like he’s holding Hakyeon back from making new friends, he’s always felt like that. Nearly everyone was hanging out in groups and yet Hakyeon would just stick with Taekwoon, talking to others whenever he had the chance. It seemed unfair.

The hopeful look in Lana’s eyes and the pleading one in Hakyeon’s makes Taekwoon give up his own comfort so that Hakyeon can be happy. With a sigh Taekwoon nods his agreement with the arrangement. Hakyeon squeezes his arm happily, grinning.

“Thanks Woon,” he says gratefully.

Lana also thanks Taekwoon before turning back to Hakyeon. “I’ll talk to you tomorrow Hakyeon, okay?”

“Okay.”

Lana goes back to her friends, who get hit for the teasing earlier, and they leave. Hakyeon smiles for the rest of the day, thanking Taekwoon for letting Lana in even just a little. Taekwoon wants to tell Hakyeon that it’s _him_ that’s thankful, for the things Hakyeon was willing to sacrifice for him. But he doesn’t say it because they’re at school.

 

13 years old

“Are you ever going to talk to them?” Hakyeon questions as they leave their group of friends.

After Lana had pushed her way into their lives, the rest of her friends had come too, as well as a few other people along the way. Now they hung out in a fairly big group instead of by themselves.

Taekwoon ignores the question. He wasn’t comfortable in the group and Hakyeon knows it. The most he ever did was nod his head when they asked him things. But they weren’t his friends and the feeling none of them wanted to be either.

“You know,” Hakyeon starts after a while. “I’m thinking of asking Lana out.”

He’s talked to Taekwoon about this before, about liking Lana. Taekwoon didn’t really get it. How did Hakyeon _know_ he liked Lana?

“Do you think I should?” Hakyeon prompts nervously.

Taekwoon shrugs. “If you want.”

 

15 years old

“Hakyeon,” Taekwoon says softly, stroking his best friend’s hair. “What’s wrong?”

He normally went over to Hakyeon’s house with him after school. Today Hakyeon had begged to go to Taekwoon’s. Once they were there he’d thrown himself down on Taekwoon’s bed and started crying. It’s the first time Taekwoon has seen Hakyeon cry in years, and the first time it’s ever been over something that actually mattered and not a grazed knee.

“Lana cheated on me,” Hakyeon sobs.

“Oh.”

‘Oh’ is apparently not the right response as Hakyeon sobs harder. Taekwoon pats his back awkwardly and gropes around for a way to make him feel better. He can’t say what he’s thinking, that Lana had never been good enough for Hakyeon anyway, because Hakyeon is probably still too upset to get on board the hate train.

“Sorry,” he says instead.

Hakyeon and Lana had been going out for more than eighteen months, quite the achievement for two fifteen year olds.

“It’s fine,” Hakyeon mutters. “I’m fine.”

It takes Hakyeon a while to actually be ‘fine’ again. He and Taekwoon ditch their group and hang out alone for almost two weeks before they join another group of Hakyeon’s friends. It’s smaller and just guys and Taekwoon prefers is over their last group just because they leave him alone and don’t pretend to be his friend.

 

“Taekwoon,” Hakyeon says as they’re watching a movie.

So far they’d eaten a whole bag of chips and drank almost a litre of cola.

“What?”

“I think I’m gay.”

Taekwoon is a little surprised. It’s been three months since Lana had cheated on Hakyeon and in that time Hakyeon had briefly gone out with two other girls, one of which he’d had sex with. Taekwoon had never even questioned whether Hakyeon was anything but straight.

He bites his lip, unsure if he should ask what he wants to. Hakyeon looks over at him with a frown. He knew Taekwoon wouldn’t give him a hard time of it, but he’d expected at least _some_ response.

“How do you know?” Taekwoon asks finally.

It’s barely a whisper and takes Hakyeon a second to figure out that he hadn’t misheard what Taekwoon had said. It doesn’t help him figure out what Taekwoon had meant though. How did he know he was gay, maybe?

“What do you mean?”

“How do you know who you’re attracted to?”

That question has been swimming around in his head since he was thirteen, making him wonder if there was something wrong with him.

“I don’t know,” Hakyeon says thoughtfully. “Guys are just who I want to do things with, I guess. They’re who I think about. Why?”

Taekwoon is frowning, thinking that over. He’d tried thinking about people when he was doing _that_ before, but it always ended up being a turn off. It freaked him out.

“I’ve never liked anyone,” Taekwoon says.

Taekwoon was a fairly private person and got shy when they talked about sex, so Hakyeon had always thought that he was just keeping it to himself.

“Ever?” Hakyeon asks.

Taekwoon nods.

“Huh,” Hakyeon mutters. “Maybe you’re a late bloomer.”

“…Maybe.”

 

 

21 years old (2nd year of uni)

He feels like his throat is trying to close in on itself. He wasn’t a fan of sociology classes to begin with but this one is the worst. They were doing oral presentations and someone had chosen to do their topic on domestic abuse, with a focus on child abuse and the lasting affect it can have.

Barely three minutes into the presentation Taekwoon tears out of the room, clutching his bag and running for home. He doesn’t get that far though and instead he winds up in a bathroom near the cafeteria.

 _Not here_ , he thinks desperately, splashing his face with water. _Not here._

Heart pounding painfully, Taekwoon grips the edge of the sink and tries to stay upright. It wouldn’t be the first time that he’d passed out from something like this but it hasn’t happened since his early teens and he really didn’t want it to happen now.

In his pocket his phone begins to buzz and he fumbles to pick it up, knowing it’s Hakyeon. He didn’t care what Hakyeon wanted, he didn’t worry that it was a weird time for Hakyeon to be calling, he just needs the distraction.

“Woonie,” Hakyeon says when the call goes through. “Jaehwanie says he saw you running but he can’t find you. You okay?”

The hurried breathing is an obvious ‘no’ but he can’t say it.

“Taekwoon?” a voice calls into the bathroom.

It’s Jaehwan. Taekwoon drops his phone, leaning over the sink as his stomach threatens to empty itself. It doesn’t and Taekwoon sinks to the floor, unable to stay standing any longer. Jaehwan sits in front of him, hanging up his phone after a quick reassurance to Hakyeon.

“Let’s take two deep breaths,” he suggests.

Taekwoon struggles but he does it, breathing as Jaehwan counts. It isn’t enough to focus on and he starts tracing a square. Jaehwan does the same, catching on quickly.

 

 

22 years old (3rd year uni) (Everyday Life chapter 6)

“Do you want a drink, Woonie?” Hakyeon asks, offering a beer.

Taekwoon shakes his head but Hakyeon doesn’t see, busy talking to one of their co-workers.

“Here,” Hakyeon prompts, holding Taekwoon’s wrist.

Taekwoon pushes the drink away. “No,” he mutters.

“Oh my god, Taekwoon spoke!” the co-worker yells.

Taekwoon freezes, feeling his heart rate pick up and panic set in, he hadn’t meant to speak. Hakyeon is holding his wrist still from when he’d been trying to get his attention and it’s the only thing holding him in that spot.

“Whoo!” everyone starts cheering.

They’re drunk. Most of them are _very_ drunk. The coffee shop always had a party at the beginning of the year to welcome the new employees, or those that were of age at least. It was supposed to be a bonding experience but it always made Taekwoon incredibly uncomfortable.

“Shut up!” Hakyeon screams at everyone.

He spins around, letting go of Taekwoon to properly scold everybody. They all knew this was exactly what they weren’t supposed to do. Taekwoon bolts upstairs into the dark, not even noticing when he runs into the table.

He sinks down into a corner and tries to breathe. The short gasps of air aren’t enough and he chokes in a deeper breath. He pulls at his hair, curling into himself as the cheering downstairs continues. Hakyeon is swearing up a storm and for a long time all Taekwoon can hear is yelling.

 

 

Age: ?

Taekwoon opens the box and is hit with a wave of nostalgia. Inside is a couple of toys and about a million drawings from his childhood. His eyes fall on only one toy though and he picks up the old action figure with a soft smile, trying not to let his eyes tear up.

“I used to think you were going to save me,” he whispers.

 _Didn’t I?_ the toy whispers back.


	21. Drabble 5 - In which Wonshik does the dishes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Set at the same time as, and meant to accompany, chapter 2.

 

Year 2: Semester 2: Week 8

A soft knock on the door rips Hakyeon from his doze. He doesn’t remember falling asleep on the couch. What had he even been watching?

He sits up, groaning because of how sore his neck has become and heads to the door. A quick glance at the wall clock reveals that it’s after three in the morning.

“Who is it?” he questions through the door.

“Wonshik.”

Hakyeon frowns in confusion and opens the door. “What are you doing here?” he asks in a whisper.

Wonshik enters the apartment, trying to be quiet. “Sorry, Hongbin was being a nuisance.”

It was the truth, to some extent. Hakyeon sighs and points towards Taekwoon’s door. Wonshik thanks him, kicking off his shoes before heading over. Hakyeon turns off the TV and then disappears into his own bedroom with a yawn.

Wonshik doesn’t knock on Taekwoon’s door, not wanting to wake him up. It turns out that that’s unnecessary. Taekwoon is lying in his bed, staring at the door as it opens.

“Sorry,” Wonshik apologises. “Did I wake you?”

“No, I was awake.”

Before Wonshik can ask if it’s okay if he sleeps in here, Taekwoon has lifted his arm, pushing up the covers and revealing room for Wonshik. Wonshik strips off everything but his t-shirt and underwear and then crawls into the space.

Taekwoon nuzzles against his throat, wrapping him up in his arms with a sigh. “Why are you here?”

“Hongbin and Jaehwan are fucking.”

“What?” Taekwoon asks, surprised.

“Yeah, surprised me too,” Wonshik murmurs back. “Hongbin has never mentioned anything about having a boyfriend, he tells me everything.”

Wonshik can _feel_ Taekwoon’s cheeks heat up before he even says anything. “Maybe they just...”

He doesn’t need to finish his sentence for Wonshik to know what he’d meant. He shrugs a little before pulling Taekwoon even closer.

“You could be right... I’ll ask him tomorrow. Let’s go to sleep.”

“Mmm.”

 

“Wonshik.”

It takes Wonshik a second to convince himself to open his eyes. Taekwoon in standing in the doorway. He’s still in his pyjamas but has obviously been awake for a while going by the tongs in his hand and the drastically cleaner state of the room.

“I made breakfast. Do you want some?”

Wonshik sits up and runs his hands through his hair. “Yeah, I’ll be there in a minute.”

Yawning, Wonshik pulls on his clothes and sleepily makes his way to the kitchen table. Hakyeon is working on an assignment while munching away at his breakfast. He barely acknowledges Wonshik, too busy frowning at his laptop screen.

Taekwoon sets Wonshik’s food in front of him and then sits down. He’s got dark marks under his eyes and Wonshik frowns, reaching out to run a thumb over them.

“Did you sleep?” he asks.

Taekwoon smiles. “I slept.”

It wasn’t a lie. He’d slept, just not for long.

Breakfast is quiet. Wonshik and Taekwoon have a muttered conversation as they eat so they don’t interrupt Hakyeon too much and then they clean up. Wonshik insists on doing most of the work because he’d shown up out of nowhere and Taekwoon watches on.

“Thank you,” Wonshik murmurs, pressing a kiss to Taekwoon’s lips when he’s finished.

Taekwoon blushes but he doesn’t pull away. “No problem.”

They share a few more kisses before Wonshik sighs and pulls Taekwoon into a hug. “I have to go.”

“Okay,” Taekwoon breathes, trying not to sound disappointed.

“Bye, Wonshikkie,” Hakyeon says, suddenly appearing in the room.

Taekwoon wrenches himself away from Wonshik, turning a brilliant red and fixing his gaze on the floor. Wonshik’s cheeks also redden, but nowhere near as bad.

Hakyeon walks into the kitchen, opens the fridge and grabs a banana milk, then retreats just as quickly.

“You two are so cute,” he says as he goes.

“I should go,” Wonshik manages when they’ve finally recovered.

Taekwoon runs his fingers down Wonshik arm as he walks past. “Okay.”


	22. Drabble 6 - In which Taekwoon has a dream.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Set during their two week holiday.

“Is there anywhere you want to travel to?” Wonshik asks.

“Japan,” Taekwoon answers straight away.

Wonshik smiles. “Really? Any reason?”

To Wonshik that seemed like a random choice. He had wanted to go to France himself, drawn there by his studies above anything else, but he thought Japan could be interesting too.

Taekwoon smiles back at Wonshik. “You’ve only met my mum, you haven’t met my dad yet.”

For a second Wonshik has no idea what Taekwoon is talking about, but then it clicks. “No way, is your dad Japanese?”

Taekwoon nods and Wonshik’s mouth falls open.

“No way, why did you never tell me that? Do you speak Japanese?”

“Yes. My sister and I speak it with our dad.”

“No way,” Wonshik repeats again.

“When I was little he used to talk about all the temples near where he grew up. It was really calming the way he’d describe them and it always made me feel safer. I really want to draw them. It’s something I always wanted to do.”

“So cool,” Wonshik sighs. “I wish I could draw.”

“I saw you drawing the other day, you’re not bad.”

Wonshik elbows Taekwoon in the side. “Thanks for the support.”

Taekwoon laughs and captures Wonshik’s hands. “I’m serious. If you actually tried you’d be pretty good at still life.”

Wonshik doesn’t believe him but leans in for a kiss nonetheless. “I think for now I’ll stick with music.”

Their moment is ruined by Sanghyuk who comes into their room and throws ice creams at them.

“You guys are really sappy these days,” he says. “Like teenage girls.”

“Hey, apologise to all teenage girls, you brat,” Wonshik replies.

Sanghyuk grins. “Maybe I should. They must be embarrassed to be compared to you.”

“Oi!” Wonshik cries.

Sanghyuk runs from the room giggling like a five year old and Wonshik sits up so he can begin the chase. He never gets further than the edge of the bed because Taekwoon hooks his arms around his waist and pulls him back.

“Stay,” he whines.

Wonshik feels a smile spread over his face as he snuggles down next to Taekwoon. “Do you want the chocolate one or the strawberry one?”

Taekwoon gives Wonshik a look that basically said ‘do you know me at all?’ and takes the chocolate one. Wonshik grins and opens his ice cream, watching Taekwoon demolish his own at an incredible speed.


	23. In which Hakyeon has his first crush.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ages in this are Hakyeon's, just to clarify.

**The ages are Hakyeon’s in this drabble, just to clarify.**

 

Drabble 6 – In which Hakyeon has a crush.

 

5 years old

Hakyeon went to Taekwoon’s house many times after his first visit. Nearly every Wednesday, when they didn’t have kinder, Hakyeon would go over and they’d play all day. When they start going to school the following year their play dates move to Saturdays.

“Taekwoon, mum wants to know if you want something to eat,” a girl asks one day.

Hakyeon has never seen her before but he thinks she’s really pretty. She’s older than them, probably ten or eleven, and has long silky hair braided over her shoulder. She smiles at him but then returns her attention to Taekwoon. When he doesn’t answer her she frowns.

The words that leave her mouth are definitely in another language and Hakyeon is extremely confused. Since when did Taekwoon speak another language?

Taekwoon answers the girl this time, letting out a short string of whiny words in the same language. She tsks at them and leaves and Hakyeon turns to question his friend.

“Who was that?”

“My sister?”

“When did you get a sister?” Hakyeon demands.

“She’s always been here,” Taekwoon replies, picking up his action figure.

“What’s her name?”

“Hina.”

“What language were you speaking?”

“Japanese. Dad only talks to us in Japanese...he’s teaching me how to write it too.”

Hakyeon can’t believe he didn’t know all of this. Taekwoon has been talking to him for a year but never mentioned that he has a sister or that he can speak another language.

 

Hakyeon watches in a state of awe and confusion as Taekwoon and Hina speak to their father. Hakyeon has only met him a few times and he was always incredibly nice. Today he was going to take them swimming, since it was pretty warm.

“Don’t speak in Japanese when Hakyeon is here,” Taekwoon’s mum scolds.

She ruffles Hakyeon’s hair and puts a plate of fruit between him and Taekwoon and another between the other two. Taekwoon instantly drops the conversation for the food. Hina apologises to Hakyeon and also grabs some fruit and Taekwoon’s dad smiles sheepishly before doing the same.

 

 

8 years old

“Did you and Taekwoon have a fight?” Hina asks.

Hakyeon pouts and she wraps an arm around his shoulder.

“Make sure you make up quickly, you’ll regret it if you don’t.”

Hakyeon isn’t even sure what they were fighting about. It had started about a week ago when Taekwoon had decided to join Hakyeon on the playground. For the first two days he seemed content to follow Hakyeon around and avoid everybody else. Hakyeon had thought he was fine but Taekwoon had suddenly thrown a tantrum earlier today and locked himself in his room, leaving Hakyeon shocked in the lounge room along with the rest of his family.

He didn’t go home though, even though Taekwoon’s dad offered to drive him, he wanted to make up but he wasn’t sure how to. Taekwoon’s tantrums weren’t as common as they once were but they were now usually about something more serious than not getting the seat he wanted or getting his own way.

Just like every Saturday, Hakyeon stays for dinner. Taekwoon picks at his food – a sure sign that something was wrong – and refuses to talk. Even after his dad tries to get him to talk in Japanese – something that usually worked since they mostly spoke Japanese at home – Taekwoon remains silent. Instead the conversation is dominated by Hina complaining about her friends being bitchy lately and their dad talking about one of his clients who has a lot of money but no brain to go with it.

Once dinner is cleared up Taekwoon’s mum puts three ice creams on the table. Hakyeon watches as Hina starts to go for his favourite one, the only one he actually liked. Before he can say anything though Taekwoon has snatched it up. Feeling a little betrayed – because Taekwoon _knows_ that’s his favourite – Hakyeon turns to give the other boy a glare only to realise that Taekwoon has put the ice cream in front of him.

“Thanks, Woonie.”

Taekwoon nods and just like that their fight is over and Taekwoon joins the conversation for the first time all day. Hina sighs, she wishes her friends could end fights that easily. They never do find out what the cause of the tantrum was.

 

 

12 years old

Taekwoon pushes Hakyeon, breaking his line of sight. Hakyeon’s cheeks, which are already red, go even redder.

“Stop it,” Taekwoon grumbles.

“Sorry,” Hakyeon mutters back.

He can’t stop his eyes from drifting back again though and they land on Hina as she floats at the surface of the pool. She hasn’t been swimming with them for a couple of years and in that time two things have changed. The first is that Hina wore bikinis now, apparently. The second was that Hakyeon was twelve, enough said.

Hakyeon liked Hina a lot but he wasn’t stupid, he knew that to her he was just a little brother. To hide his embarrassment he dives into the pool and Taekwoon follows.

 

 

18 years old

“Aw,” Hina coos teasingly, hugging Hakyeon from behind. “You’re so popular.”

Hakyeon covers his face in embarrassment.

“I never thought I’d see the day when two guys would fight over you.”

Taekwoon hides an amused smirk.

“And to think that I’d been hoping you’d marry _me_.”

A weird, strangled noise breaks in Hakyeon’s throat. That had been his dream since he was seven years old, until he turned out to be hella gay, that is. He’d hoped that for all those years he’d been more subtle than he’d apparently been.

“Next year when you guys go to university you’re going to be getting all the –”

“Please stop,” Hakyeon pleads.

He should have just told Hina he was gay years ago, that way he wouldn’t feel like he deserved this teasing. He doesn’t know why but he’d only hidden it from Hina, begging Taekwoon not to mention any of his boyfriends for years. Maybe he’d been clinging to a version of himself that could have the default career, marriage, kids deal. When he’d told that to Taekwoon the boy had scoffed.

“You can still have that,” he’d said.

 

 

19 years old

“What do you think of Jimin, Hakyeon?” Hina asks.

“He’s cute.”

“Hey,” she whines with a grin while shaking his arm. “He’s mine.”

Hakyeon grins back at her. “He seems like a great guy.”

“You can’t give me more than that?”

“He has a great butt?”

Hina launches herself at him, complaining that he wasn’t being helpful.

 

 

25 years old (Sanghyuk 20 (2nd year))

Hakyeon looks down at his godson with a soft smile and the baby looks back, eyes wide and curious. Hakyeon can’t believe Taekwoon is missing this, he’ll have to send lots of pictures later.

“He’s gorgeous,” Hakyeon tells Hina.

She grins and laughs. “He’d be more gorgeous if he slept at night.”

Sanghyuk plants his head on Hakyeon’s shoulder and pokes his tongue out at Jihu, reaching around Hakyeon to stroke his cheek. Hina bites her lip as she looks at them, when did Hakyeon become an adult?

“You guys will be alright with him, right?”

Hakyeon smiles, not breaking eye contact with his godson. “Of course. You go have a rest and spend some time alone with Jimin.”

“But you took care of him last weekend too. Don’t you want to–”

“Go,” Hakyeon insists, cutting her off.

Hina plants a kiss on his cheek and then on Sanghyuk’s. “Okay. Thank you.”

They barely notice her leave, completely enraptured by the tiny human in their arms. Jihu gurgled at them happily and they sighed. One day.


	24. Drabble 8 - In which presents are bought.

_4 Weeks Until Christmas_

“What do you want for Christmas?” Wonshik asks.

Taekwoon looks up from the catalogue from a music shop he’d been flicking through on the other’s bed. He’d seen Wonshik stare longingly at several pages in here a few days ago and was trying to find out why. He may as well ask too.

“What do _you_ want?”

“I was going to get you a coffee machine, since you drink so much of it lately. It’s better than going to the coffee shop several times a day because of your ridiculously high standards for coffee.”

 _At least that gets him out of the house_ , Wonshik laments. _He’s turning into a recluse_.

Taekwoon’s eyes light up and Wonshik smiles. This was way easier than guessing what the other wanted.

“Do you want a keyboard or a guitar?” Taekwoon questions, holding up the magazine.

Wonshik smiles. “Keyboard.”

He joins Taekwoon on the bed, pressing a kiss to his cheek. “Should we go together to pick them out?”

“That’s a good idea.”

“Great. Now we can go before the Christmas rush when everybody goes crazy.”

“Mmm,” Taekwoon agrees. “Should we go tomorrow?”

“Sounds good.”

They settle down on the bed with Wonshik’s laptop, having planned to watch a bunch of new movies together. The list was mostly Christmas movies that they’d never seen before, either one or both, and it reminds Wonshik of Jaehwan’s upcoming musical.

“When does Jaehwan’s musical start showing?” he asks.

“Not until the tenth. He already got us tickets.”

“Nice.”

 

_Three Weeks Until Christmas_

“What are you getting Jaehwan for Christmas?” Hakyeon asks.

Hongbin groans at the thought. “I have no idea! I’ve been thinking for weeks and weeks now.”

Hakyeon laughs. “You’re a bad boyfriend,” he jokes.

The photographer sighs. “I know.”

The elder bumps his shoulder reassuringly. “Does he want anything?”

“That’s the problem,” Hongbin replies sadly. “He keeps saying that he doesn’t.”

Hakyeon thinks for a moment. “What did you get him last year?”

“I don’t even remember. Some kind of figurine?”

It’s not like they’d been dating back then, just fucking. And they’d only known each other for a few months. Hongbin sinks into the couch, ignoring when the remote to the TV drops to the floor to join the pile of manga magazines Sanghyuk was slowly taking over the lounge room with.

“What are you getting Sanghyuk?”

It’s Hakyeon’s turn to groan. “Probably some sort of game. He’s been really into computer games lately.”

“What kind?”

Hakyeon holds up his hands in the universal signal for ‘I don’t know’ and then mimics Hongbin, slipping down onto the couch.

Hongbin smirks. “You know, there’s this new game coming out soon…”

“Really?” Hakyeon replies.

“Yeah, I’ll send you a link.”

“Great.”

 _There you go, Sanghyuk_ , Hongbin thinks.

They turn their attention to the television. It’s showing some infomercial about blenders but neither of them move to change the channel.

 _We could use a new blender_ , Hakyeon thinks absently.

 

_Two Weeks Until Christmas_

“Should I get Hakyeon the blue turtleneck or the green vest?” Sanghyuk wonders.

Wonshik eyes both of those things. “Neither, they’re both horrible.”

The teen tuts and returns both items. “Then what do I get him?”

Wonshik shrugs, picking up the discarded clothes lying around on the floor and putting them back on hangers. “Does he have any hobbies?”

“He likes to read but I know he _hates_ people buying him books.”

“Something practical? He’s going to start working soon right?”

“Not until the start of February.”

Wonshik rolls his eyes. Why did Sanghyuk think _now_ was the time for this? He’s trying to work. The store he normally worked at on holidays had called him in for the Christmas rush a week ago and he was kind of glad for it, he’d been going insane from boredom doing nothing every day. But now Sanghyuk was here, at his work, while he was trying to clean up the mess.

“What if I got him new bedsheets?”

Wonshik pauses to give Sanghyuk a look. “Clothes? Bedsheets? How _old_ are you two? How long have you been going out? You sound like you’re shopping for someone you’ve been married to for twenty years.”

Sanghyuk scowls. “Well _sorry_. Just because you’ve got your present sorted out doesn’t mean the rest of us have!”

“Christmas is in just over two weeks,” Wonshik sings.

“Unnecessary reminders are not welcome,” Sanghyuk sings back, smiling tightly and feeling a little stressed.

He honestly had no idea what to get Hakyeon. Hakyeon wasn’t into anything, not music or TV shows or games. Since finishing university he’d floundered for a hobby for a little while but then decided there was no point finding one if he was going to be busy working soon, he started a month from now.

 _Maybe I’ll get him a new blender,_ the teen thinks, remembering the weird noise Hakyeon’s had made the other day.

 

 “What’s wrong with your old camera?” Sanghyuk wonders, watching Hongbin carefully inspect the displayed cameras.

He can’t believe he’d been talked into going to the shops again for the second time this week. There were people everywhere and none of them knew how to drive a trolley or put things back where they got them. He sort of pitied Wonshik for having to deal with it.

“I want a new one since I got that job. They do have some that I can use but I’d rather have my own.”

“Fair enough,” Sanghyuk concedes, ignoring Hakyeon who was holding him from behind and complaining he couldn’t see. “Why didn’t you ask Jaehwan to buy you it for Christmas?”

“Because it’s really expensive and I can’t think of anything to get him in return. I’d feel bad… It’s not like he’s rich.”

“Oh?” Hakyeon interrupts. “You _still_ haven’t found him something?”

“Shut up,” Hongbin mutters, eyes falling on one of the cameras. “It’s only been a week.”

“You could always ask, like Wonshik and Taekwoon did.”

“That takes away the excitement,” Hongbin returns.

“I don’t know,” Sanghyuk mutters. “Taekwoon is pretty damn excited.”

Hongbin narrows his eyes at the youngest before turning to Hakyeon. “Sanghyuk hasn’t gotten your present yet either Hakyeon.”

Hakyeon leans around, leaning heaving on Sanghyuk so he can meet his eyes. “Really?”

“I’ve gotten half,” the teen defends himself.

That blender wasn’t going to be enough, he _had_ to get something else too.

“Half? You’re getting me two things?”

Sanghyuk nods and Hakyeon sighs in relief. “Thank God. Now I won’t feel bad about getting you two things. The first thing I got seemed too small…”

The teen also sighs, squeezing his boyfriend’s hand. “Right?”

The question was what was he going to get Hakyeon now? He sighs and tries to think of something while Hongbin continues to inspect different camera models.

“Ooh, Hyukkie!” Hakyeon cried, tugging on Sanghyuk’s arm. “Look at this!”

Sanghyuk let’s himself get pulled over to the photo frames and then watches as Hakyeon deliberates between two differently priced ones that looked almost exactly the same.

“Is this one of those ones that displays pictures?”

“A digital photo frame?” Sanghyuk asks back.

“Yeah.”

He can see the older man getting excited over it and is beginning to wonder if he should get that as Hakyeon’s second present when Hongbin crushes it.

“I have one of those, got it for Christmas from my sister a few years ago. I have never updated it since then. Also I keep knocking it off my bedside table.”

Hakyeon sighs. “I probably couldn’t be bothered updating it either. Besides, I don’t have any digital photos.”

Sanghyuk holds off the old person joke that is just begging to be said and instead wraps an arm around Hakyeon’s shoulders. “You have heaps of photos on your laptop.”

“Only from the last year…”

Hongbin – who has crushed a dream and doesn’t even know it – finally decides what camera he wants and turns to grin at the pair. “Ready to go? I can buy this online and cheaper.”

“I suppose,” Hakyeon mutters.

Sanghyuk knows exactly what he’ll be getting Hakyeon for Christmas when he sees the sad look on his boyfriend’s face.

“Let’s go get some lunch,” he suggests. The other two agree easily and he squeezes Hakyeon’s hand.

 

Hongbin has never been in such a shop before. It’s surprisingly busy and he’s probably the only one who feels suspicious.

“Can I help you?”

Hongbin flinches and turns to find a shop assistant smiling kindly. He tries not to blush but he’s pretty sure he already looks like a tomato.

_Why did I think this was a good idea? Why didn’t I just order it off the internet?_

Earlier today, on the walk home from the shopping centre with Hakyeon and Sanghyuk, he’d seen a shop he’d never noticed before. Tucked away down a laneway next-door to a Chinese food shop he and Wonshik had actually been to before, was an adult shop. Once Hakyeon and Sanghyuk had left he’d made the trip back to the shop.

He and Jaehwan had discussed it before, trying something new that is, but they’d never gotten around to actually doing it. This was a good opportunity to get something to try.

“I’m looking for something for my boyfriend.”

“To use alone or together?”

The photographer’s face graduates from ‘tomato’ to ‘beetroot’ but the shop assistant just keeps smiling, unfazed.

“Together? Both?”

“Great, come this way.”

He lets himself be led through the store, pretending he’s invisible. Where was he supposed to hide this until Christmas?

 

“Taekwoon,” Sanghyuk whispers.

“What?” Taekwoon whispers back.

The others are waiting for them to bring food from the kitchen so they can start the movie but this is the only time Sanghyuk had managed to catch the older man alone.

“I need your help making Hakyeon’s present.”

“‘Making’?”

“I’m making him a photo album. He got sad the other say at the shops and said he didn’t have many photos. I was wondering if you had any.”

 _That’s cute_ , Taekwoon thinks to himself. Hakyeon liked to look back on things and he loved photos, he just didn’t take any himself. Taekwoon can’t believe he hadn’t thought of getting Hakyeon a photo album before.

“I’ve got a few from high school and I know Jaehwan has a bunch from when he started hanging out with us.”

It was a good start. “Really? That’s awesome! Are they printed ones or?”

“Mine are printed, Jaehwan’s are digital. You can always print them out.”

“Thanks, Taekwoon,” Sanghyuk grins.

Taekwoon can’t stop the little smile that appears on his lips. “I’ll get my sister to find you some as well. She took heaps of photos of us when we were kids.”

Sanghyuk has to fight not to launch himself at Taekwoon. He had wanted to do this so bad but there wasn’t any point if there were no photos to put in it.

“This is so good!” he cries before remembering to whisper. “Now I don’t have to just give him a blender! That’s so boring.”

 “A blender?”

Sanghyuk rolls his eyes. “Yeah. His is so old and it makes strange noises. I’m afraid it’s going to blow up or something. Half the time it doesn’t even work properly.”

Taekwoon wants to point out that that’s _his_ blender Sanghyuk is insulting, but he holds his tongue, it _was_ pretty old and Hakyeon was the one that used it all the time to make smoothies;. “I’m sure he’ll love both presents.”

“Right?”

“Where’s the fucking popcorn!” Jaehwan yells from the lounge room.

“Jaehwan!” Hakyeon scolds.

 

 

“Did you get Hongbin’s present yet?”

The eldest had been most worried about what to get Sanghyuk’s but after figuring it out last night he’d moved on to worrying about Hongbin and Jaehwan since they were the only two left who hadn’t stated what they were getting each other.

Jaehwan grins at Hakyeon. “Sure did.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah. Ordered it last night.”

“Online?”

“Well, _yeah_. I didn’t really want to go buy it in person. How embarrassing. Also I haven’t had time to get to the shops.”

Hakyeon’s eyebrows shoot up. “What did you get him?”

“It’s a secret.”

Hakyeon wonders what could possibly be ‘embarrassing’ to buy instore and his first thought is lingerie. The mental image that conjures is enough to make him drop the subject and it gives Jaehwan a chance to return the question.

“What about you?”

“I got Sanghyuk a subscription to the magazine he’s always buying every week.”

Jaehwan laughs. “You’re just sick of all of these books taking over your apartment.”

 _A little_.

“He likes it so I don’t care,” Hakyeon states. “He can start stacking them against the wall if he likes.”

“But now he can read it on his tablet?”

“Yes…”

Jaehwan grins knowingly. “Okay then. Anything else? A game?”

“Yeah, but I’m still not sure which one.”

“Did you see that new one? Looks fun.”

“The one Hongbin sent?”

“Hongbin sent it?” Hakyeon asks, had Sanghyuk conned Hongbin into this too? “Doesn’t matter. I’ll send you a link.”

Hakyeon secretly hopes Hongbin and Jaehwan send him a link to the same game because that would make things easier. “Thanks. When is your next performance?”

“Not until the day after tomorrow.”

Hakyeon nudges him. “I always forget you’re such a good singer, I was actually surprised when you started singing.” He’d also been incredibly proud. Maybe it was misplaced pride but he didn’t care.

“I’m fantastic,” the other man replies with a cheeky grin.

 

_One Week Until Christmas_

“Do you guys ever go home?” Wonshik demands, emerging from his bedroom with a sleepy Taekwoon to find not just Jaehwan – who was an expected and regular guest that rarely left – but also Hakyeon and Sanghyuk on the couch.

“We just got here,” Hakyeon states. “Sanghyuk and Hongbin are going to go take photos of Christmas things, or something like that.”

Only Taekwoon knew that was a lie. They were driving to his sister’s house to pick up photos because Sanghyuk was determined to get Hakyeon’s present made in time.

“And I don’t have work until later,” Jaehwan supplies.

Taekwoon ignores them all in favour of coffee. He is _so_ ready for Christmas so he can finally have his new coffee machine. Wonshik on the other hand just frowns at them all before moving on to make breakfast.

“Are we meeting up and doing something for Christmas?” Sanghyuk asks. He hadn’t really stopped to consider it before and he didn’t really expect it. He and Hakyeon were spending Christmas morning with _his_ family before they go see _Hakyeon’s_ family with Taekwoon and Wonshik, and then they’d spend the next day with _Taekwoon’s_ family.

“I think we’re all booked out with family and work,” Jaehwan replies. “Besides, when are we ever not all together?”

It was true. Everyone was visiting their own family and each other’s family and Jaehwan and Wonshik were working late and leaving early in the morning. Since Sanghyuk, Wonshik and Hongbin were on holidays from school they pretty much just went to their part time jobs and hung out.

“But we haven’t actually stopped to celebrate,” Sanghyuk points out.

“Why don’t we get together tomorrow?” Hakyeon suggests. “Nobody has anything on then, right?”

“I have work until eleven but after that I’m free,” Wonshik calls from the kitchen.

“Perfect let’s open presents then.”

Sanghyuk leaps to his feet, surprising Hakyeon and making Jaehwan stifle a weird scream. “Hongbin! Are you ready yet?! We need to go!”

Hongbin pops his head out of the bathroom, still brushing his teeth. “A’moft,” he tries. He hurries back to the sink and spits. “Almost!”

He’d heard everything and knew why Sanghyuk was in a hurry now. He quickly finishes brushing his teeth and grabs his equipment from his room, even though it was just for show.

“Let’s go.”

They have their shoes on in record time and are out the door, Hongbin barely paused to give Jaehwan a quick kiss and wish him luck with his show and Sanghyuk doesn’t spare Hakyeon a second glance.

“That was weird,” Hakyeon notes, only slightly offended.

Jaehwan nods his agreement. Taekwoon rolls his eyes as he follows Wonshik out of the kitchen, coffee already half finished.

“I thought they wanted pictures of lights and stuff,” Wonshik mumbles, offering a pancake to Taekwoon, who refuses. “Did Hongbin even take his equipment with him?”

“I don’t even know,” Hakyeon replies.

 

It was one of those rare times when Wonshik woke up first. Light is already filtering into his room despite the disgustingly early hour and he traces the dark shadows under Taekwoon’s eyes. He sort of suspected that Taekwoon had been up all night again and only recently fallen asleep.

“Taekwoon,” he murmurs, running his fingers over the elder’s cheeks.

“Mmm?” Taekwoon grumbles, forcing his eyes open.

“It’s almost seven, I have to go to work soon,” Wonshik explains. “Did you sleep?”

Taekwoon groans and sits up. “I’m fine. Do you want to open your present now?”

 _You just want to use your new coffee machine_ , Wonshik thinks to himself, unable to hold off the grin that spreads over his face. “Of course. Let’s set them up in the lounge room.”

It takes them seconds to thank each other with a kiss before they’re unboxing their presents. Taekwoon is torn between taking his time and savouring the moment and showing how much he appreciates it, and just rushing so he can set it up and play with it. Wonshik on the other hand has his new keyboard out of the box and it setting it up already.

He’s too busy fiddling with the settings and making sure it’s _perfect_ to hear Taekwoon making his first batch. It isn’t until the steaming cup is being pressed into his hand that he notices. As always it looks expertly made.

“Wow, it smells good,” he notes, taking the cup thankfully. “Did it work well?”

Taekwoon nods, joining Wonshik on the little bench that he’d bought to accompany the stand and keyboard. He presses a kiss into Wonshik’s cheek, causing the other man to grin again and return the gesture.

“Good.”

He wasn’t a huge coffee drinker but he could appreciate a good cup every now and then and Taekwoon made _really_ good coffee. They sit together in companionable silence and drink their coffee, both playing around with the keyboard as they do.

“Thank you, Taekwoon,” Wonshik sighs when he’s finished. “I have to go to work though.”

“Okay. I’ll clean up the boxes and file away the warranties. You go take a shower.”

“Thank you,” the younger man says again, this time pressing a kiss to the other’s lips.

A small smile appears on Taekwoon’s face as he returns the kiss. “I love you.”

“I love you,” Wonshik replies, initiating a deeper kiss.

Taekwoon goes along with it but eventually pushes Wonshik away. “Go. Take. A. Shower.”

Wonshik pretends to pout and stands up. “I guess we’ll continue this tonight then.”

Taekwoon rolls his eyes but Wonshik sees the tiny nod, and grinning, finally starts getting ready for work.

 

“You have to open your present now,” Hongbin states with a yawn.

Everyone was meeting at eleven-thirty and it was currently nine so they needed to get up at some point. It had quickly been decided that the small gifts they’d gotten for each other could be opened together, but presents to partners would be opened in private. Unless he wanted to wait until tonight Jaehwan had to open his present now.

“Why?” Jaehwan mumbles, not all the way awake yet.

“Because, it’s… just open it.”

Said present is simply wrapped and labelled ‘open in private’. The words have Jaehwan’s eyebrows raising and he sits up in bed with something between a smirk and a frown on his increasingly alert face. He was truly a master of expressions.

“Open mine too,” he says, pulling it out from under the bed. Frankly he was surprised Hongbin hadn’t found it, since it was _Hongbin’s_ bed he’d hidden it under.

Hongbin’s mouth falls open at the sight of the present. It too had a label but it said ‘for your eyes only’ instead. Hongbin can’t help the tiny blush that rises to his cheeks.

“Did we get each other the same thing?” he whispers.

Jaehwan laughs. “God, I hope so.”

They slowly open the wrappers to reveal plain boxes and once they’ve opened the boxes their eyes slowly lock on each other’s. Even Jaehwan blushes a little this time.

He clears his throat. “I got you that so I could use it on you,” he says before silently adding, _Or watch you use it. Whichever._

Hongbin bites his lip, a little because he’s embarrassed but also because he’s trying not to smile. “Well, I got _you_ that to use on _me_.”

Jaehwan grins. “I’m glad we’re on the same page. Should we try them out?”

It’s Hongbin’s turn to laugh. “Later. I think Taekwoon is up. And that means he’s just waiting for us to get up so he can give us coffee.”

“Aw,” Jaehwan complains but he still follows Hongbin from the room and accepts the predicted coffee without another word.

 

Sanghyuk already knows what one of his presents is after strategically conning both Hongbin and Jaehwan into suggesting it to Hakyeon. The game was a new release and he’d have bought it for himself if he hadn’t had to buy Christmas presents for both family and friends.

The second present takes him completely by surprise. “Is this a subscription for–”

“Yes,” Hakyeon answers before Sanghyuk can finish asking.

He loves the way Sanghyuk’s eyes light up, how the excitement is clear on his face. He loves the way Sanghyuk kisses and hugs him in thanks before returning to his fanboying. Finally he calms down enough to remember to give Hakyeon his own presents.

“Open the big one first.”

Hakyeon does, ripping off the paper. Weirdly he isn’t surprised to see the blender and he has this weird moment where he’s really thankful that it’s a practical gift. That moment is quickly followed by the revelation that _he’s an adult_.

“I actually really needed a new blender,” he says between kissing his boyfriend. “Thanks, Hyukkie.”

Sanghyuk grins. “Open the other one,” he encourages.

He does so, feeling nervous because this is obviously the gift Sanghyuk _really_ wanted him to have. He slowly peels the paper off to reveal the cover of a thick book. It takes him a second to comprehend what it is but when he does he opens it up quickly.

The first picture is of him as a baby, completely naked and in a bath, a smile on his face. A little description underneath says ‘Hakyeon smiling because of gas and blowing bubbles in the bath’. Hakyeon laughs but shoots Sanghyuk an accusatory look.

“Did you write that?”

“That’s what it says on the back of the photo!” Sanghyuk cries, also holding back a laugh. “I swear!”

Hakyeon is still grinning as he flicks through the pages. The first few pages is just him with his siblings but Taekwoon appears quickly and then remains in about two-thirds of the photos. Only after he gets into university is there more diversity in the people in the photos. There’s a whole section of just Jaehwan being a dork. There are also a few of Hongbin’s best photos and a modest ‘Sanghyuk section’. Hakyeon doesn’t realise he’d been crying until he gets to the end, the last photo is of them all at Jaehwan’s musical, the actor himself still in costume, it was from only two weeks ago.

“Where did you get all these photos?” he asks, wiping away the silent tears.

Sanghyuk rolls his eyes and hands the older man a tissue. “What do you think I was doing yesterday? Hongbin and I certainly didn’t spend ten hours taking photos of ‘Christmas things’.”

Hakyeon just stares so Sanghyuk relents. “Mostly from Taekwoon’s sister. Also Taekwoon and Jaehwan. A few of them I pinched off your computer… Hongbin helped arrange it all and write the descriptions…”

Hakyeon stares down at the album and Sanghyuk can’t help the uneasy feeling that rises up inside him.

“Do you like it?”

Hakyeon jabs Sanghyuk in the ribs and then pulls him into a tight hug. “Of course I do, you idiot. This is the best present.”

The teen returns the hug. “Merry Christmas.”

“Merry Christmas, Sanghyukkie.”

 

Wonshik is the _last_ person to arrive at their little get-together despite it being in _his_ apartment. Where _he_ lives and everybody else just never seems to leave… admittedly he was a little late.

Their gifts to each other are simple things – Jaehwan gets two new plush toys and Taekwoon gets a new sketchbook, for example – as well as little joke gifts.

Once that’s out of the way the discussion turns to what they’d gotten their partners. Sanghyuk is the first to jump into it. But it’s only as he’s trying to explain to Taekwoon exactly what his present is – and Taekwoon _is_ trying to understand but failing to do so in his sleep-deprived state – he realises he hadn’t asked a very important question.

“How long is the subscription for?” Sanghyuk wonders.

Hakyeon grins. “It’s for a year but I’m only renewing and paying for it while we’re still together.”

“Wow, so romantic,” Jaehwan scoffs.

“Realistic,” Sanghyuk corrects, planting a kiss on his boyfriend’s lips to show that no offence was taken. “No couple stays together forever.”

“Hongbin and I will,” Jaehwan states. “We’re perfect.”

Hongbin feels both embarrassed and honoured to hear Jaehwan say that. He can’t help the stupid smile that slips onto his face in response.

“We’re so perfect we were even thinking the same thing when we got each other our Christmas presents. We got each other the _same thing_.”

“Jaehwan,” Hongbin warns, face heating uncontrollably as he relives buying the present and all of.

“Hongbin even wrote ‘open in private’ where I wrote ‘for your eyes only’ so… yeah, we’re perfect.”

Taekwoon is opening his mouth to ask _what_ they’d gotten each other when Hakyeon shakes his head at him and it clicks. His face flames and he can’t bring himself to meet either Jaehwan’s or Hongbin’s eyes – which they take advantage of with maximum teasing. While he does enjoy the opportunity to tease Taekwoon, Hongbin is also tempted to tell Jaehwan that if he kept discussing their sex life with the others like this then he’d never get to see Hongbin use his present. Ever. He’d just use it alone and let Jaehwan live with the knowledge that he could be joining in if he’d kept his mouth shut.

“How’s your coffee machine?” Hakyeon asks Taekwoon to change the topic.

“Perfect,” he replies instantly.

“How many cups have you already had?” Sanghyuk enquires.

Taekwoon tries not to look guilty and fails. “…Three.”

Hakyeon tuts. “Woonie…”

They’ve talked about his addiction before and Taekwoon had promised to only drink three cups a day.

“I won’t be able to use it for the next week because we’re going away. Why not drink it now?”

It is those last five words, that little rhetorical question, that marks the appearance of Whingy-Woon and Wonshik is the first the quickly move the conversation on. “Let’s have a drink to celebrate Christmas.”

“Christmas isn’t for three days,” Sanghyuk states.

Wonshik doesn’t hesitate to kick him. “We’re celebrating now,” he replies.

The six pack that had been sitting in the fridge for the last three weeks finally gets it’s time

“It’s eleven-forty-five on a Monday morning,” Jaehwan chuckles as they raise their bottles to toast.

“One won’t hurt,” Hakyeon says, eyes on Taekwoon. “Merry Christmas.”

“ _Merry Christmas,_ ” they chant together, chinking their drinks.

Taekwoon struggles to keep the disgusted look off his face after the first sip. _I’d rather have another cup of coffee_ , he thinks wistfully before pushing the beer away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, this one time, back in Silence Speaks Volumes, in chapter 3ish(?) I mentioned that Wonshik worked at the shopping centre on holidays… So yeah, thought I would remind you since I never mentioned it again after that…(He works in a department store, btw) (also it barely has anything to do with this drabble, but eh, I thought that just in case any of you were confused as to how he suddenly had a job.)


	25. Drabble 9, Part 1 - In which Hakyeon is the baby

Cha Hakyeon: Year 12, age 17.

The walk home is almost silent and it would be if Hakyeon wasn’t obviously forcing himself not to cry, sniffing every three seconds and rubbing his eyes. Eventually Taekwoon can’t stay quiet anymore.

“I don’t know why you stay with him,” Taekwoon admits honestly, hurting because Hakyeon is hurting.

He hated Hakyeon’s boyfriend and he hated the way that that arsehole treated Hakyeon. His contempt had been obvious from the start – at least to Hakyeon – but it wasn’t like Taekwoon could confront the guy.

Hakyeon’s eyes are still wet and there’s a sob in his chest but he manages to get his words out around it all. “How many other guys would go out with me?”

There were not many boys at their school who were ‘out of the closet’ and frankly Hakyeon had already gone out with a fair number of them – that means there are three besides him and that he’s dated two of them. Mingyu had approached Hakyeon not long after he’d broken up with his first boyfriend but now he was cheating…with Hakyeon’s ex…and had been for a while apparently.

Hakyeon can’t help thinking something must be wrong with him, out of five relationships, he’d been cheated on in two… something must be wrong with him.

Taekwoon has never been good at the comforting side of their friendship so he just takes Hakyeon’s hand and leads him home while Hakyeon sniffles. It was childish, holding hands, but it was the only thing he knew that worked.

 

“Aw, come on, Hakyeon,” Mingyu begs, one hand on Hakyeon’s arm and the other on his knee. “It was a mistake. I didn’t mean it.”

Hakyeon can’t bring himself to meet Mingyu’s eyes. His heart is pounding but his mind is almost blank. He has only one question that keeps circulating around and around. Should he forgive Mingyu? He’d never believed in forgiving cheaters before. Did Mingyu deserve it?

Mingyu looks up from his boyfriend until his eyes come to rest on Taekwoon, who is definitely glaring at him. “What?” he demands, unwilling to admit he’s a little intimidated. “I’m trying to talk to my boyfriend, go away. You’re so weird!”

Hakyeon has his answer. “Woon, can you step out for a second?”

Taekwoon is unimpressed but he does as asked, vacating Hakyeon’s bedroom for the kitchen instead.

“They still going at it?” Hakyeon’s mother asks.

“Yeah,” Taekwoon mutters.

It had been a week since Hakyeon had found out that Mingyu was cheating on him and since then most nights had involved some sort of fighting or crying, normally both though.

Taekwoon is stuffing his face with the fruit Hakyeon’s mum has cut up for him when Mingyu comes storming out of Hakyeon’s room less than five minutes later.

“I hope you and Hakyeon are fucking happy together, Taekwoon,” he spits as he rips open the front door. “Fuck.”

Taekwoon blinks dumbly after the other boy, confused about how he was once again the one being blamed by Hakyeon’s ex. And then he grabs another piece of fruit.

Hakyeon appears thirty seconds later, eyes red, face splotchy and lips pouting. He sits down next to Taekwoon and lets his head drop to the bench.

“Why is everyone I date an arsehole?” he asks.

Hakyeon’s mum laughs. “It runs in the family. I almost gave up on getting married before I met your father. Ooh, what a catch. Smart, sexy, great with kids. The idiots I dated in high school and uni just wanted sex though.”

“Aw, mum,” Hakyeon complains. “I don’t want to know!”

Taekwoon bites his lip and ruffles Hakyeon’s hair. “Choose someone better next time.”

Hakyeon tuts despite his mood suddenly picking up. “Shut up or I’ll go back to chasing your sister.”

“As if,” Taekwoon scoffs while Hakyeon’s mum snorts in disbelief.

“Maybe if he had a brother,” she teases.

Hakyeon pouts again. “I’d go straight for Hina! We’re meant to be!”

Taekwoon is torn between laughing at Hakyeon and telling him to fuck off and in the end he just rolls his eyes, too used to Hakyeon’s weird crush on his sister to really care.

Finally, after much teasing, Taekwoon deems Hakyeon in a good enough state to leave alone. “Drive me home,” he demands.

Hakyeon’s only had his licence for a month and hadn’t bought a car yet – nor did he plan to – so he turns to his mother and she sighs. “You know where the key is. Drive safe. Make sure you have your lights on. The roads might be icy so be careful.”

“Yes,” Hakyeon replies indulgently.

Taekwoon says goodnight, grabs his school bag and follows Hakyeon from the house.

 

“Hakyeon,” his mother calls when he gets home again.

Hakyeon hangs up the car keys and finds his mum in the lounge room watching TV with his dad.

“What?” he asks.

His dad pats the spot between them on the couch and Hakyeon sighs, walking forward to sit between his parents.

“You are okay, right?” his mother enquires. “Proper okay?”

“Of course,” Hakyeon replies with a grin, bumping his arm against hers.

His father wraps an arm around his son’s shoulders and gently punches him in the head. “Don’t lie to your parents,” he says softly.

Hakyeon wishes he didn’t cry so easily, he bites his lip and tips his head back, refusing to let the tears escape.

“And don’t lie to Taekwoon either, he sees right through it. Look at what he sent me.”

Hakyeon looks through tear-blurred eyes at the screen of his mother’s phone and at the text Taekwoon had sent. _Don’t let Hakyeon cry alone._

“That idiot,” Hakyeon mumbles, feeling his throat grow even tighter as a sob builds up.

The arm around his shoulder tightens and not for the first time Hakyeon is really glad his father wasn’t the kind to shy away from being there emotionally for his kids. There was something about being able to cry on his dad’s shoulder, of someone bigger than him, that made Hakyeon feel a lot better.

“Date lots of arseholes now so when you meet the perfect guy you know it,” his father says. “Your mum can tell you that from experience.”

“I already did!” she complains, hitting her husband before she takes her son’s hand. “But seriously, Hakyeon, don’t you worry about Mingyu. One day you’ll meet someone who you’ll want to forgive for doing something like this.”

Hakyeon doesn’t really believe that. Only a total arsehole would cheat on their partner, that’s what he thinks right now.

“Okay,” he whispers.

He lets his parents coddle him for another ten minutes, watching the TV with them until his eyes begin to droop.

“I’m going to bed,” he states.

His dad squeezes him a bit tighter for a second before releasing him and his mother smacks his butt softly after he stands up.

“Ah, my baby is already an adult,” she sighs. “How did this happen?”

“Mum,” he whines, secretly enjoying the attention.

“Goodnight,” his dad says.

He echoes the phrase and heads for his bedroom. Hakyeon isn’t even out of the room when his mum is calling him back though.

“Yeah?” he wonders.

“What Mingyu said when he left,” she begins. “Why _don’t_ you just date Taekwoon?”

“Ah,” Hakyeon mutters. “Woon doesn’t like people like that.”

The surprise and confusion on his parents’ faces definitely means Hakyeon could spend another hour standing here trying to explain and he’s just too tired for that. Instead he spins on his heel and marches off down the hallway.

“If Woonie is _ever_ in a relationship I’ll make sure I bring them here to meet you!”

And then he practically runs away before he can be bombarded with questions.

 

_5 and a half years later: a week after Taekwoon meets Wonshik’s family (Year 2: Semester 2: Week 16)._

“Hakyeon. Hakyeon,” his mother whispers urgently after rushing into the kitchen, shaking him rather violently. “Hakyeon, Hakyeon, Hakyeon.”

“ _What?_ ” Hakyeon whines, trying to pull free so he can make the coffee properly. Taekwoon better hurry up getting that milk.

His parents had come for a day-trip to treat Hakyeon and to meet Sanghyuk. They were _supposed_ to meet him at the coffee shop but instead they’d come to his apartment.

“There’s a naked man in Taekwoon’s bed!”

“Huh?” his father demands, hastily leaving the kitchen so he can confirm this detail.

“Dad,” Hakyeon complains, feeling embarrassed. “Stop.”

The older man gasps and rushes back to the kitchen. “Who is that?”

“Who is it?” his mother demands eagerly.

In the chaos and questions none of them had heard the front door open – even when it banged against the wall – and Taekwoon shuffle in.

“That’s my boyfriend,” he states, handing over the milk and willing his face not to turn bright red.

“ _Boyfriend?_ ” the parents gasp at the same time.

Hakyeon gets hit almost the instant they’ve recovered. “You said you would tell us if Taekwoon ever got into a relationship,” his mother scolds.

Hakyeon’s dad chooses this moment to rush back towards the bedroom door, intent on getting another look. Taekwoon follows quickly, determined to stop that from happening.

He’s still trying to pull the older man away from the door when it opens, revealing a sleepy-looking Wonshik. Taekwoon is very, _very_ glad that Wonshik had put some clothes on before emerging.

Wonshik blinks at the scene before him before raising an eyebrow at Taekwoon. “What’s going on?” he asks.

Hakyeon’s mother darts out of the kitchen then to get a good look. She’s closely followed by Hakyeon who is whinging at his parents about causing trouble.

“Ooh, he’s handsome. Well done, Taekwoon. Should we take you out for lunch to celebrate?”

“Mum! You’re supposed to be taking _me_ out! What about _my_ boyfriend?”

“He can wait! _Taekwoon_ has a boyfriend!”

“At least introduce him,” Hakyeon’s father suggests, moving over to calm down his wife despite wanting to join in.

“This is Wonshik,” Taekwoon states flatly, feeling exhausted already despite it being so early.

Wonshik then goes through what is basically the parents’ version of ‘twenty questions’, answering his age and field of study and where he’s from among other things. Finally, after what seems like forever, he notices the time and gets to his feet.

“I have to go.”

“Oh yeah, you and Hongbinnie were going to take photos, weren’t you?”

“Yeah,” Wonshik sighs.

Hongbin was working on building his portfolio now that he’d finished all of his coursework. Jaehwan was originally going to go with him but he’d gotten a bad mark and been offered an extension so he could redo it. Wonshik had then begrudgingly volunteered to help since his work was all done and his exams were done. He had been hoping to spend the whole weekend with Taekwoon since they’d gotten stuck at his parents’ house until Wednesday.

“You’re still coming over tonight, right Taekwoonie?” Wonshik asks.

Taekwoon nods and lets his boyfriend kiss him, forgetting for a moment that Hakyeon’s parents are here. “Bye.”

Wonshik is almost tempted to kiss him again but he knows Taekwoon wouldn’t like it. Instead he simply straightens up and heads for the door with a ‘nice meeting you’ to Hakyeon’s parents.

“He’s a delight,” his mother says once the door is shut.

“Great guy,” his father adds.

“You better be this sweet to _my_ boyfriend when you meet him,” Hakyeon threatens when he sees their stupid grins.


	26. Drabble 9, Part 2 - In which Jaehwan finds himself.

 

Lee Jaehwan: Year 12, age 17.

“What was that? Can you say it _one_ more time?”

Jaehwan sighs at having to repeat himself for a third time. He knows it’s a little shocking, a little heartbreaking, but his boyfriend should try harder.

“I’m moving into the city.”

“But why?” Eugene demands, still in shock. He sits up on his bed and frowns.

They had a plan, they always had ever since they’d started going out three years ago. Eugene was a year older but he was in the same year level. After they graduate they were going to travel together for a year. They’d been saving up their money for a gap year and then the following year they’d both enrol in the university in the next town over. It was a perfect plan. They were only eight months away from their gap year!

“My dad got a new job and my mum can get transferred to the city branch and that way she won’t have to commute every day. Not to mention there’s no work out here, after uni we would have to move for work anyway… my brother and sister are already there doing uni.”

“Yeah but… we… are we breaking up?”

Jaehwan swallows the hard lump that’s been in his throat since his parents had told him what was going on. “I think so. It’s a five-hour drive…”

He wanted to be confident while he did this, for both their sakes. He wanted to be rational and he wanted Eugene to be the same way. Luckily Eugene has always been the sane one.

He spends an entire minute just staring at the ceiling before releasing a shaky breath and looking back at Jaehwan, there’s only one thing he can do. “Now you’ll be able to study musical theatre, right?”

It takes Jaehwan by surprise, Eugene suddenly bringing this up. “I… that was just a joke. It was years ago.”

That was how they’d met actually. Nothing was more uncool than a guy who wanted to sing in musicals, and when he was thirteen Jaehwan was that guy. He’d been bullied for it, suddenly under attack for a something that had been totally okay in primary school, and Eugene had been the person that stood up for him. After that though, Jaehwan had entirely given up on musicals and he’d nearly stopped singing all together.

Eugene tuts. “As if. Your eyes would light up when you talked about it and you had the program descriptions from different unis saved.”

“It was just a… I was just looking,” Jaehwan stutters.

The older man sighs. “Don’t give up your dream so young. You only gave it up because of me, didn’t you?”

When he’d been reeling for something to focus on, his new dream, somehow that was when their plan came together. That was what Jaehwan was hoping for. All he was hoping for.

“Don’t flatter yourself!” Jaehwan cries. “The world runs on money and you can’t make a living off singing in musicals!”

“When have you _ever_ cared about money? When did you resign yourself to studying accounting in university?! You _hate_ studying and you hate math! You’re always saying you hate school!”

Their voices are rising but luckily they’re at Eugene’s house and since he was an only child with parents who work late, there was no chance of anybody interrupting.

“So what if I hate school?!” Jaehwan demands. “I wanted to go to uni with you! That university only offers business degrees! That was the plan!”

“Well the plan doesn’t matter now, does it?! So go to the city and study what you want! That’s what I’m saying!”

Jaehwan is about to bring up the money issue again but he knows it’ll just make the conversation – the argument? – go in circles. Instead he stands up and starts for the door because some traitorous tears are trying to escape.

“Let’s break up,” he says.

Eugene is glad that Jaehwan doesn’t look at him because Jaehwan has never seen him cry and he doesn’t want him to see that, ever. “Okay,” he agrees.

 

“Where have you been?” Jaehwan’s little sister, Jihyun, asks when he gets home. “It’s late, you know.”

Jaehwan had spent a long time sitting in the park after leaving Eugene’s. He’d spent half an hour crying to himself before he’d realised that maybe breaking up had been premature, he wasn’t moving for a month. After that he’d cried some more before the cold had forced him home.

“None of your business,” he snaps back. “I’m going to bed.”

“Have you been crying?!”

“Fuck off.”

 

 

“Jaehwan!” Eugene exclaims three weeks later when he opens the door and finds Jaehwan standing there.

Ever since breaking up they’d been skirting around one another. It was hard to avoid each other at a school with less than two hundred kids and the same friend group. Plus they didn’t have a reason to avoid each other anyway so people were asking questions.

“I don’t want to go,” Jaehwan mutters, tears in his voice. “To the city. I don’t want to go.”

Eugene pulls Jaehwan into the house with a sigh. For the first week Jaehwan had been sad and then for the last two weeks he’d been excited, finally accepting that he could study musical theatre if that’s what he wanted. Now he was obviously trying to back out again.

“Why not?” Eugene asks.

“I’m not the city type!” Jaehwan cries. “I am never, _ever_ going to fit in! Look at me!”

Eugene looks at his boyfriend, looks at his insanely curly hair and big glasses and his daggy clothes, and his adorable chubbiness, and he smiles. Self-confidence had always been something Jaehwan had struggled with and that was what Eugene was here for.

“What?” Jaehwan asks, caught off-guard by the soft expression.

“I think you’re any type you want to be. You’re amazing and talented and brave and you can fit in anywhere you need to.”

Tears spring to Jaehwan’s eyes instantly and he hastily pulls Eugene into a hug so he can hide it. “You should have told me that I’m amazing and talented and brave and can just stand out because I’m perfect,” he jokes.

Eugene chuckles and holds him a little tighter. “You’ll always stand out to me.”

“So corny,” Jaehwan complains with a laugh.

His boyfriend just pulls back from the hug and pokes his tongue out. “I wonder where I got that from.”

Jaehwan pouts and Eugene knows it’s an invitation for a kiss. “Don’t push your luck, we’re broken up, remember?”

“Shut up and kiss me!”

The older man rolls his eyes and does as he’s told. “Good luck in the city. Go kick some arse and become a big star.”

“Shut up,” Jaehwan repeats. “It’s still weird to hear.”

“Your parents took it okay? You wanting to study that?”

“They’re a little worried but they didn’t tell me not to.”

“Your parents are great,” Eugene sighs, envious. His definitely wanted him to study business.

“I know, my siblings are mean though.”

“They’re just jealous you got _all_ the singing talent.”

 

_4 years later (What Life Is timeframe)_

“…and then we went shopping and she was bitching at me about how I was dressed. I felt like telling her I’m an adult, I don’t need my mother to dress me. But seriously, she took me into the nearest store and started picking things out so that I wouldn’t–”

“What are you staring at?”

Eugene tears his eyes from the poster to meet his boyfriend’s questioning stare. How long has he been staring at it? He needs a closer look.

“One second,” Eugene mutters.

“Are you feeling sick?” his boyfriend asks as he stands up and walks across the coffee shop to the pin board.

Mostly the board contained advertisements for tutoring or outside classes or second-hand books or rooms available to rent, normal stuff found in coffee shops on a university campus. But right in the centre was a poster and Eugene was almost certain he’d seen a familiar face when they’d walked past earlier. He really needed to know.

When he gets close enough to read the poster he can’t help feeling amazed. Jaehwan had actually become a musical actor. And he’d gotten hot.

“Are you interested in seeing it?” a voice asks suddenly and Eugene turns to see possibly one of the most handsome men he’s ever seen before standing right next to him.

“I-I…um,” Eugene stutters smoothly, eyes flicking back to the picture.

Handsome guy grins, showing off two dimples. “That guy there, that’s my boyfriend. He’s amazing.”

Eugene gawks at the stranger’s finger, now pointing to Jaehwan on the poster, and after several seconds remembers he has to breathe.

This guy is Jaehwan’s boyfriend and is proudly stating it in public. All Eugene can remember is how he and Jaehwan had hidden their relationship for the entire time they’d been together.

“Anyway,” handsome guy says. “You should definitely come see it.”

“I… yeah, I think I might,” Eugene decides, feeling a smile slip onto his face.

Jaehwan’s boyfriend smiles again and then turns towards the counter. “Sanghyuk, you started lunch without me?”

“Shut up,” another guy responds as Eugene slowly makes his way back to his own boyfriend.

“What was that about?” he asks.

“I know… used to know, I mean, one of the people in that musical.”

“Wait, really?” his boyfriend laughs. “That’s so cool. Want to go see it?”

“Yeah… just to see.”

 

 

“Remember how I told you about that guy who was in the coffee shop that time? Staring at the poster for your musical?” Hongbin asks.

“Yeah?” Jaehwan mumbles through a mouthful of donut, spraying icing sugar into the air.

“He’s right there, ogling at you.”

Jaehwan lets his eyes leave the food and they instantly land on Eugene. He gasps but only manages to inhale icing sugar and effectively choke himself.

His eyes are still watering and Hongbin is still pounding him on the back when Eugene reaches them.

“Jaehwan,” he greets.

“Eugene,” Jaehwan returns.

He’s suddenly aware that he’s covered in sugary powder and drooling a little and crying because he’d choked and turns away.

“Who is it?” Hongbin mouths, helping Jaehwan clean himself up quickly.

“Ex,” Jaehwan mouths back and Hongbin instantly knows who Eugene is, having heard about him before in their obligatory ‘how many people have you dated’ talk not long after they’d started fucking.

“Oh,” he mutters, spinning Jaehwan around.

Eugene is smiling, withholding a laugh because seeing Jaehwan like this certainly brought up all the memories.

“I saw your musical,” he states.

“Thanks,” Jaehwan smiles.

“I…I’m kind of surprised you actually went through with it,” Eugene admits. “I thought maybe you’d get worried about money again…”

Jaehwan scoffs. “I _am_ worried about money, it’s not going to stop me though. I’m really glad you sort of pushed me back in that direction.”

“Me too, I forgot how well you could sing. You’ve gotten so much better too.”

“Don’t start fanboying now,” a new voice says and they all flinch. “We’re running late, honey.”

Eugene glances at his watch and smiles regretfully. “Sorry,” he says. “We should go. I just… I just wanted to tell you that I’m proud of you.”

Jaehwan grins. “Thanks. It was good seeing you again,” Jaehwan grins.

“Bye, Jaehwan.”

“Bye.”

Hongbin watches the couple walk away, noting that they _were_ indeed rushing for something, before turning back to Jaehwan. “That was awkward,” he says.

“I know. I’m kind of glad though… I haven’t seen him since I moved here.”

Hongbin links their hands – pretends that Jaehwan’s isn’t sticky from his donut – and starts leading them home. “His boyfriend is cute.”

“You’re cuter,” Jaehwan replies instantly.

 

“I’m really sorry,” Eugene says as they run to make the lights.

“It’s all cool. You were supposed to meet me at the station though. If we miss this train we’ll be late for the conference.”

“Sorry,” he mutters again. He’d seen Jaehwan when he was on his way there and Jaehwan had seen him too, he just had to say something.

“That was Jaehwan, right? From the musical? Is he the guy you used to know?”

Eugene nods and pulls his boyfriend through the crowd of people, they’re totally going to miss their train.

“His boyfriend is hot. And cute.”

“You’re cuter,” Eugene replies instantly.


	27. Drabble 10 - In which Hakyeon makes friends with a taxi.

 

Year 3: Pre-Semester 1: January

“Aw, come on Taekwoon,” Sanghyuk whinges. “Why not?”

“I don’t want to,” the older man whines back, pulling away from Sanghyuk.

Sanghyuk pouts but it has absolutely no effect on Taekwoon. Wonshik tries not to laugh, instead he takes Taekwoon’s hand to get his attention.

“You may as well go,” he says. “I have to work and Hongbin and Jaehwan are going out.”

Taekwoon’s stance doesn’t change. “I don’t want to,” he repeats.

It’s Hakyeon’s turn to pout, nudging Taekwoon pleadingly. “Please. It’s my last ever New Year’s party at the coffee shop. You don’t have to drink…”

To be honest Taekwoon always thought ‘New Year’s’ party was stretching it since it happened on the last weekend of January. It was more of a ‘welcome’ party than anything else. New staff would meet older staff and the managers and then they’d all get drunk together and bond. It was a tradition. It was a tradition Taekwoon had hated for the last four years – he had particularly bad memories associated with the one from two years ago – and would continue to hate this year too.

Hakyeon and Taekwoon had worked with mostly the same people for the last three years but they’d all graduated last year too. Now it would just be new faces and Sanghyuk, not something Taekwoon found appealing, especially when they probably wouldn’t get the same hours. It wouldn’t be like last year where he only worked shifts that Hakyeon was at too.

Admittedly the only reason they’d gotten away with that was because Hakyeon had been an assistant manager, it was also the only reason he was invited to this year’s party despite no longer being an employee.

Taekwoon tuts, looking at the begging eyes of his best friend and his boyfriend and his best friend’s boyfriend. “Fine.”

“Ooh!” Sanghyuk exclaims. “Really?!”

Hakyeon thanks him – adorably in Sanghyuk’s opinion – and Wonshik just smiles. Frankly Taekwoon had barely left the apartment since Christmas so it was probably a good thing that he was going out.

 

“Are you going to come inside?” Hakyeon asks softly, poking his head outside the front door of the coffee shop.

“No.”

Taekwoon is comfortably tucked up on a bench out the front of the shop and has been since they’d arrived late about an hour ago. He doesn’t want to go inside and see how everything is different. How the dynamics have changed. He doesn’t want to go in there and be introduced as a ‘senior member’ and see the trainees mark him as someone who can help them. He can’t even help himself.

However, Taekwoon doesn’t want to explain this to Hakyeon either, not when Hakyeon is so excited about starting his new job in just two days. Not when he knows that Hakyeon deserves, truly deserves, this chance to just blow off steam before he tries to accustom himself to thirteen hour day. Who knows when Hakyeon will get a chance to relax again. Also it looks like Hakyeon has already had a few drinks.

“I’m going to go home,” Taekwoon announces. “You should hang out with Sanghyuk.”

Sanghyuk was also a ‘senior member’ despite only having a year of experience. The main reason for this was because among the new hires, _not one_ of them had any experience making coffee. That made Taekwoon, Sanghyuk and Hana the only three that could deal with peak time orders effectively. The three of them would be responsible for training the new kids, a responsibility Taekwoon dreaded above all else.

Hakyeon frowns sadly at his best friend, wanting to ask but also not wanting to push Taekwoon right now. “Okay. Be safe.”

“You too,” Taekwoon replies. “Don’t drink too much.”

“Alright…”

Hakyeon watches Taekwoon walk off for only a few seconds before he returns to the party, letting Sanghyuk slip an arm around his shoulders and press another beer into his hand.

“Is he okay?” Sanghyuk asks.

“I don’t know,” Hakyeon admits and it feels weird.

Not knowing what Taekwoon was feeling was a completely foreign feeling and he definitely didn’t like it.

“I’m sure he’ll be fine,” he smiles, hoping he’s right.

 

Sanghyuk’s mother looks unimpressed when she opens the front door. Probably because it’s two o’clock in the morning.

“I thought you were sleeping at Hakyeon’s,” she states, eyeing the two drunk men standing before her.

Hakyeon laughs, suddenly remember that that _was_ what they’d planned. “Oh yeah… Let’s go, Hyukkie!”

“Wait, wait, wait!” she calls as they stumble off. “Come inside.”

“Hey! Where did the taxi go?!” Hakyeon cries, walking off towards the road to find his missing taxi.

He’d spent ten minute taxi ride making friends with the driver while Sanghyuk’s hands tried to cop a feel. Honestly Hakyeon doesn’t even remember getting out of the taxi. That was _his_ taxi, damn it! He wants it back! Where did it go?!

Sanghyuk sniggers and tries to stop Hakyeon from reaching the road but he ends up just tripping on his own feet while Hakyeon runs off at surprising a speed. Luckily Sanghyuk’s mum is there to catch him.

“Let’s go inside for now,” she suggests.

“But the taxi!” Hakyeon points wildly down the street, obviously hugely concerned about his taxi.

“I’m sure the taxi got home safely. How about we have some water and go to bed?”

“I want more drink,” Sanghyuk states. “No water.”

“Let’s just go inside first, okay?”

She manages to drag them into the house – Hakyeon is still asking about the taxi – and then to the kitchen, seating them at the breakfast bar and getting them some water.

“I feel sick,” Hakyeon says, lying his head down on the bench.

“I’m sure you do,” she agrees, already searching for a bucket just in case.

Sanghyuk is eying his own water cautiously. “More alcohol?”

“No, it’s water.”

“I want alcohol. I want _alcohol_.”

It takes two more cups of water before Sanghyuk is tricked into thinking it’s alcohol and actually drinks it. In that time Hakyeon has buried his face in the bucket, apologising over and over.

Finally, f _inally_ she gets them into bed, making sure the bucket is nearby and they have water and painkillers. Only then does Sanghyuk’s mum sigh in frustration and go back to bed.

 

Hakyeon wakes up with his face pressed into a wall and feeling like death. For a long while he’s confused about the wall because his own bed is in the middle of the room. It isn’t until he rolls over – it takes several seconds for his head to stop spinning afterwards – that he figures out he’s in Sanghyuk’s room. Sanghyuk, however, is not there.

Hakyeon manages to take some painkillers before lying back down and going back to sleep. He doesn’t sleep for very long before the door opens and wakes him up. He expects Sanghyuk but finds his mother instead.

“It’s almost eleven.”

“If I move I’m going to throw up,” Hakyeon mutters in response.

“Just do it, you’ll feel better,” she tells him. “There’s breakfast waiting if you want it.”

“Oh god no…” Hakyeon groans, already reaching for the bucket.

 

 

“Did you have fun at the party?” Wonshik wonders when he arrives at Taekwoon’s apartment, kicking off his shoes.

“I… yeah.”

Wonshik lets the lie slide and holds up the bag of shopping he’d brought. “Lunch?”

Taekwoon nods and takes the bag with a simple ‘thanks’ before ditching Wonshik for the kitchen.

“You’re just using me for my grocery buying skills,” Wonshik grumbles teasingly, following his boyfriend.

“You’re very good at it,” Taekwoon praises with an eye roll.

Half an hour and their combined efforts sees them with full stomachs and a messy kitchen. Yawning hugely Taekwoon begins cleaning up leftover food and ingredients and Wonshik starts on the dishes.

“Are you here for dinner tonight?” Taekwoon asks, trying to plan what to have since Sanghyuk will be here.

“Work,” Wonshik sings.

“Again?”

Wonshik grins. “I’ve almost got enough to afford all the classes I want to do.”

Taekwoon’s eyebrows pull down. “Classes?”

“I thought I told you?” Wonshik also frowns.

“ _No?_ ”

“Oh…my bad,” Wonshik mumbles. “I’m going to take some extra classes outside of uni.”

“The music one?” the older man asks, still confused.

“Yes, and some others. I think there’s five I want to do,” Wonshik smiles. “I’m actually starting one next week. It’s Japanese so if I fall behind you can tutor me, okay?”

They’re both silent for a second but eventually Taekwoon begins to speak. “Why are–”

A sharp knocking on the front door cuts Taekwoon off and Wonshik abandons the dishes to go answer it, wondering who it could possibly be on a Sunday.  

 _Why are you taking so many classes?_ Taekwoon finishes silently as the opportunity to ask fades away before him and he follows Wonshik into the lounge room.

“Wonshik!” a delighted scream interrupts his train of thought and Taekwoon looks around to find his boyfriend getting pulled into a rough hug, head encased between two thin arms that don’t look very strong but actually are. Apparently it isn’t Hongbin or Jaehwan because Wonshik wouldn’t hesitate to hit them for something like this.

Taekwoon’s first instinct upon seeing his sister is to hide and he’s actually starting to slink back into the kitchen when he notices that his parents are here too and he freezes instead. He hasn’t spoken to them since Christmas, maintaining a radio silence after the questioning he’d received.

For the most part Christmas had been great. Wonshik had gotten along well with everyone and Hakyeon had been largely distracted by bragging about Sanghyuk and showing him off, so Taekwoon had been able to sit in silence and listen to the conversation. But there was always two conversations going on with his family, one where everyone could understand, and one in Japanese where Hakyeon, Wonshik, Sanghyuk and Jimin could not, and this was what had caused Taekwoon so much anxiety on Christmas day.

Between joking about the past and catching up, Taekwoon’s father had switched languages and asked him if he’d gotten a job yet. It had opened the gates for Hina and his mother to ask too. When he was going to get a job? If he’d been applying. What is he even looking for? How long he was going to stay at the coffee shop? How much more of his life is he going to waste?

He knows they’re just concerned but it had stressed him out beyond belief and he suspects the only one that had realised that was Wonshik, what with how hard he had been holding Taekwoon’s hand under the table, fingers trailing down his arm.

It had already been something he was anxious about but his family questioning him on top of it was too much, hence the radio silence on his part. Even now he hadn’t told Wonshik what had happened, though he knows Wonshik must be curious.

So when Taekwoon sees his family barge into his apartment his first thought it that it’s time for round two.

They all see the way Taekwoon tenses and an almost visible wave of guilt sweeps over his three family members. The only two that don’t notice are Jimin and Wonshik who are too busy fist bumping to pay attention.

“Hina has big news,” their mother says, hoping to dispel the weird atmosphere.

Never before, at least not since Taekwoon had first come to live with them anyway, had there been this me-versus-you atmosphere and it kind of breaks their hearts. Taekwoon is their son and they’d always done their absolute best to do what makes him comfortable, but they’d pushed too hard this time out of concern.

“News?” Wonshik asks.

“Jimin and I are getting married!” Hina cries excitedly, tugging on Jimin’s arm.

“Ooh, congrats!” Wonshik claps.

Taekwoon’s mouth opens but no words come out but they all know what he means anyway.

“Thank you,” Jimin smiles. “It’s going to be in July.”

“So don’t make any plans,” Hina adds.

 _Like what_? Taekwoon thinks to himself.

After that his family stick around for a while. They sit at the dining table – Taekwoon gets to show off his coffee machine – and talk and Taekwoon finally relaxes after an hour of not being asked if he’s got a job yet.

At four o’clock Wonshik kisses his cheek and heads off to work and barely half an hour later Hakyeon comes home with Sanghyuk and Taekwoon lets them handle the conversation. And then finally, just before dinner, his family leaves. But not without making him promise to answer their texts and phone calls first.

“Did you have a fight with your parents or something?” Hakyeon asks quietly so Sanghyuk doesn’t hear.

Taekwoon shakes his head and Hakyeon narrows his eyes. Something has been off for a while now and Hakyeon had already deduced that it must have something to do with his family. He just can’t get Taekwoon to own up to anything, or open up. It had happened before in the past but this time Hakyeon can only hope that Taekwoon is at least talking to Wonshik about it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, thank you to reading to this point if you did~  
> Part 3 is currently ongoing and being posted on AFF. It would be really awesome if you read as I posted the chapters over there. If not, that's okay, but there is going to be a long wait before it's on AO3.  
> If you do want to read part 3 right now, you can follow the link below (^_^)  
> http://www.asianfanfics.com/story/view/1113689


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